At a ceremony in Brussels on 26 June, Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc presented the Excellence in Road Safety Awards 2018 to six organisations from five Member States. The Award acknowledges inspirational and innovative initiatives under the umbrella of the European Road Safety Charter, which contribute to improving road safety and saving lives on our roads.

Awards went to

  • VOZIM, an association fighting reckless driving (Slovenia),
  • Association Prévention routière (France),
  • Community Speed Watch Online (United Kingdom),
  • Aigua De Rigat SA, offering water services (Spain)
  • Concello de Naron (Spain), and
  • KTI research institute (Hungary).

For the third year in a row, a special prize was dedicated to Jacques Barrot, former Commissioner for Transport and fierce supporter of road safety. The winner was selected by the audience present at the ceremony from among the six winners. It is: VOZIM (Slovenia).

Violeta Bulc said: “Road safety is a shared responsibility. It requires national and local entities, as well as the civil society and the industry to work in close cooperation to make our roads, vehicles and users safe. Under the European Road Safety Charter, we have gathered concrete actions and good practices to inspire us.”

While road fatalities have more than halved since 2001, still 70 people die on EU roads every day – which annually equates to a European town (25 300 reported fatalities in 2017) –, while the toll of the seriously injured is even higher, with an estimated 135 000 people sustaining life-changing injuries every year. As part of its May 2017 ‘Europe on the Move’, the Commission put forward measures with strong EU added-value to contribute to safe roads and to a Europe that protects. Actions at all levels are nevertheless indispensable to save lives on European roads.

The European Road Safety Charter, initiated in 2004 and led by the European Commission, is the largest civil society platform on road safety. So far, more than 3 500 public and private entities (companies of all types and sizes, automobile clubs, associations, schools and local authorities) have committed to the Charter. The Charter invites members to commit, pledging to take a specific measurable action within their area of responsibilities. Since 2006, the yearly Excellence in Road Safety Awards, part of the Charter have been presented to one or several organisations that have carried out a particularly interesting or worthwhile road safety initiative.

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Source: European Commission