Efforts to enhance road Safety in Germany

1. Efforts to enhance road Safety in Germany Rechtsanwalt Paul Kuhn ADAC e.V. Legal Department Law of Damages and Insurance Law Am Westpark 8 81373 München Tel. 0049 (0)89 7676-6201 Fax 0049 (0)89 7676-8201 E-mail paul.kuhn@adac.de

2. Introduction

3. 0 - 60 61 - 90 91 - 120 121 - 150 > 150 Accident statistics from European countries Number of road casualties per million inhabitants Quelle: Eurostat - CARE 2006, Basis 2005, BG und RO 2004

4. 0 - 2 2 - 3 3 - 4 4 - 5 > 5 Accident statistics from European countries Number of road accidents per 1,000 inhabitants Quelle: Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit KfV, Basis 2005

5. EU-Agenda 2010 Objective: 50% reduction of the number of road casualties in Europe from 50,000 (2001) to 25,000 (2010)

6. e-Safety Conference in Berlin 5/6 June 2007 Driver Assistance Systems (DAS) – conclusions Definitions:  DAS are systems which support motorists in driving their vehicles.  DAS help with routine tasks and improve driver safety and convenience. Principles of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 8 November 1968 (Articles 8 and 13):  The driver of a vehicle is fully responsible for driving.  In addition, the keeper is responsible under liability law

7. Unproblematic Driver Assistance Systems (DAS): Systems which do not interfere with the full control of the vehicle by its driver:  Systems optimising functions and processes initiated by the driver (e.g. “Anti Lock Braking System, ABS”)  Systems limited to providing information or making recommendations (e.g. “Speed Alert”)  Systems the driver can override or pre-set (e.g. Cruise Control and Adaptive Cruise Control) Also unproblematic:  Speed limiters for HGV  Electronic Stability Control (ESC), automatic emergency braking

8. Recommendation:  The development of DAS must ensure that drivers remain in full control of their vehicles.  There must be no DAS intervention against the driver’s will as long as the driver is able to drive.

9. Efforts in Germany Federal Ministry of Transport/Federal States – plans:  Higher fines for speeders and tailgaters (end 2008)  Harsher sanctions for drink-driving or driving under the influence of intoxicating drugs  Stepped-up traffic checks

10. Other measures aiming at a reduction of the number of accidents: ESC in every vehicle – as ADAC has demanded (in 2006, 75% of all newly registered vehicles were equipped with ESC, most of which were large family, executive or luxury class vehicles with standard ESC) Result: By having the whole vehicle fleet equipped with ESC, 50% of single driver accidents involving severe injuries could be prevented

11. Introduction of supervised driving for 17-year-olds Requirements for supervised driving:  driver must be at least 17 years of age  novice driver may drive only when accompanied by a person designated by name (supervisor)  prior to and during the trip, the supervisor functions only as the novice driver’s person of reference; at no point does the supervisor interfere with driving, for which the novice driver is the sole responsible  the supervisor must be at least 30 years old, must have held a B driving licence for at least five years and must not have more than three penalty point on his/her driving record at the time when the temporary licence is issued

12. Result: Fewer accidents when novice driver holds a permanent licence Zero alcohol for novice drivers (since 1 August 2007) during the two-year probation or before completing 21 years of age Objective: €125 fine and two penalty points plus extended four-year probation is meant to discourage novice drivers from drink driving

13. ADAC efforts towards lowering the number of accidents Driver Assistance Systems (DAS)  ADAC demands all new vehicles should be equipped with ESC  ADAC demands mandatory distance control in HGV Objective: Avoiding serious rear-end collisions

14. Driver Safety training  Opportunity for motorists to practice driving techniques  Objectives:  Help to handle critical situations better  Training of the correct reactions for an emergency Teaching to use new technologies (“ESC”)  Drivers learn how to compensate their limitations in driving a vehicle

15. Car testing (including headrest and seat constructions)  Costs for whiplash injuries amount to about €10 billion p.a. throughout Europe (most frequent and most cost intensive injury in road traffic accidents)  There is no EU regulation for whiplash performance of car seats  ADAC: EuroNCAP test and assessment procedures used to evaluate the whiplash prevention performance of car seats Objectives:  improved seat geometry to reduce cervical spine injuries  vehicle testing according to EuroNCAP protocol  reduce injury risk by fixing flaws revealed in testing

16. Children as road users (ADAC/FIA study The Protection of Children as road Users in Europe) Objectives:  Determine the general status of child road users  Develop recommendations for improving the child safety in road traffic Method: Survey of 11 EU Member States and Switzerland Findings (example: children using bicycles):  Poland: cycling permit required (minimum 10 years of age)  Slovenia: must be 14 years of age to use public roads without a cycling permit  Switzerland: pre-school children may use children’s bikes only

17. Conclusions:  To some extent, the safety and protection of children is ensured but there still remains much to be done  Country reports and statements of the expert panel illustrate the situation in the participating countries  Recommendations can help improve the situation of children in road traffic Practical implementations of the study:  ADAC school bus check (August/September 2007)  This real-life test revealed that travel conditions in school buses are often deplorable  ADAC demands more funding for school buses, a reduced number of passengers per bus, better schedules, trained school bus attendants

18. Children as road users – dedicated events “Achtung / Hallo Auto” (Watch out/hello car)  Objectives:  learning and using concepts such as braking distance, brake reaction distance and the resulting stopping distance  experiencing the protective potential of seatbelts  Target group:  5th grade pupils (the whole class)

19. Cycling tournaments  Objectives:  learning to handle a bicycle in critical situations  getting used to certain important safety practices  Target group:  children ages 8 to 15

20. Parent education programme “Kind und Verkehr” (Children and road traffic)  Objective:  educating parents with a view to increasing the safety of children as pedestrians, cyclists and car passengers  Target group:  parents of pre-school children

21. “Sicher im Auto” (Safe in the car)  Objective:  inform motorists on all relevant technical and legal aspects of securing children in cars  Target group:  parents of children up to approx. 7 years of age and any adults carrying children in their cars (grandparents, sports clubs, …)

22. Older road users – dedicated events “Ältere aktive Kraftfahrer” (Older active motorists)  Objectives:  reviewing personal behaviour  realistic evaluation of older motorists’ physical and mental capabilities “Ältere Menschen als Fußgänger im Straßenverkehr” (Older pedestrians)  Objective:  changing attitudes and behaviour by actively facing road traffic problems

23. Indirect effects on motor vehicle insurance  Reduced premiums for safety training participants ADAC AutoVersicherung AG  reduced premiums for novice drivers  reduced premiums for other motor policies

24.  Reduced premiums for vehicles with low claims costs As a premium calculation criterion, low claims costs improve type-classification Type-classification  third party type-classes 10 to 25  fully comprehensive type-classes 10 to 35  fire and theft type-classes 10 to 33

25. Outlook Sinking/rising accident numbers (2006 compared with 2001)  France: 42% fewer accidents  Portugal: 49% fewer accidents  Germany: 23% fewer accidents  Rising numbers in the new EU Member States Problem The current accident statistics suggest that the road safety requirements of the EU transport policy for 2010 will not be met

26. Action Proposal for the improvement of road safety and infra- structure (European Road Safety Charter, http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/roadsafety/charter.htm)  Objective:  Ensuring high safety standards in all EU Member States EU consultation on advanced safety features The EU Commission called on all interested parties to offer their comments relating to advanced safety features such as e.g. Electronic Stability Control (ESC)  Objective:  Legislation mandating standard ESC

27. Cross-border enforcement of traffic offences  Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council facilitating cross-border enforcement in the field of road safety, COM (2008) 151 (19 March 2008) Enforcement notably of  Speed violations  Drunk driving  Red light and seatbelt violations  Objectives:  Lowering the number of road casualties  Increasing road safety

28. Conclusions EU initiatives can only be avoided if the EU Members States are successful nationally in reducing the number of accidents to an extent which signalises that the road safety requirements of the EU transport policy for 2010 are likely to be met

29. The Protection of Child Road Users-Measures to reduce the number of accidents Available from (German, English) : Juristische Zentrale des ADAC E-Mail: Hans-Peter.Seemann@adac.de

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