15 February 2002 |
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Next week, two European Parliamentary Committees will vote on whether to insist on binding legislation to secure state of the art cost-effective pedestrian tests saving up to 2000 lives a year or give in to the car industry’s weak voluntary agreement on pedestrian protection. In a letter to MEPs, the European Transport Safety Council has urged Parliamentarians to throw out the agreement in view of its poor safety content and stick to its longstanding call for a Directive in this area of exclusive EU legislative responsibility for the following reasons:
a) The lack of guarantees that the agreement will introduce these tests. b) Cars, in general, continue to perform badly in these tests which have been used since 1996, by the European New Car Assessment Programme (consumer information tests run by a consortium of Member States and consumer and motoring organisations). c) Industry is currently lobbying against the EEVC tests and is suggesting that even 22 years of research and development have been insufficient to provide a firm basis for action! Jeanne Breen, ETSC Executive Director said: “Only the European Parliament can now ensure that after the long delays and years of blocked progress on this issue, immediate steps are taken to ensure that by the year 2008, via a Parliament and Council Directive, the car industry starts to provide essential and cost-effective protection for vulnerable road users when they are hit by the ordinary fronts of cars.“ Contact details: Jeanne Breen, Executive Director + 32 (0) 2 230 4106/4004 |