FIA presents Road Safety Charter Commitments in Verona

Publication date: 13 November 2006

Transport Ministers from around Europe gathered in Verona for an informal conference on road safety.

Concern has been raised over progress made in the target to reduce fatalities by 50% by 2010. The conference aimed to reinvigorate this process and look beyond 2010 for new goals in road safety.

The conference reemphasised the importance of the integrated approach to road safety including the behaviour, the vehicle and the infrastructure. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile particularly welcomed the support given to new technologies such as the stability control ESC and the emergency call eCall. The FIA has always been a vocal supporter of these new technologies, believing that a rapid full deployment of ESC in the European car fleet will play a major role in fostering road safety.

Part of the 2010 goal is the road safety charter, of which the FIA are signatories. As a result the FIA was invited to participate in the conference by demonstrating its commitments and explaining how far they had achieved them.

Upon signing the European Road Safety Charter the FIA committed itself to encourage all its members to sign up as well, to promote its members road safety engagements, and to organise a workshop for clubs from the new member states.

Since signing the charter:

• A workshop has been organised for the new member states’ clubs, in view of the success a further workshop is planned for the Romanian and Bulgarian clubs, as well as clubs from some candidate countries.

• Over 20 clubs from across Europe have now with the encouragement of the FIA also signed up with their own personal commitments.

• The FIA has been promoting the safety campaigns of its members and has played a very important role in coordinating road safety work conducted by the clubs through the mobility assessment programmes Eurotest (general motoring and touring), EuroRAP (road infrastructure), NPACS (child restraints) and EuroTAP (tunnels).

The FIA strongly supports the conclusions of the conference and hopes that member states and the European Union will continue to strive towards safer roads in Europe.

Download this press release here.

verona_conference_2006.pdf (30 KB)