Include congestion, pollution and climate change in road safety directiveItem Added 01 August 2008SPARKS Programme submits amendments that recognise challenges facing local authorities in Europe’s cities and regions
Two MEPs have submitted amendments to the draft directive on road safety on behalf of the SPARKS Programme and Transport for London.
Their aim is to ensure the directive addresses both penalty enforcement and data sharing issues, and its scope is expanded to include traffic management.
This would take its remit from a narrow criminal focus on road safety to embrace the challenges of climate change, pollution and congestion that currently face local authorities in cities and towns across Europe.
Thirteen amendments proposed by the SPARKS Programme and TfL include:
- Expanding the directive’s title to include road traffic as well as road safety
- Making Article 71(1) the legal basis, rather than just Article 71(1)(c)
- Expanding its scope to include road traffic management and sustainable transport policies, as well as road safety
- Adding six offences to the four listed in the draft directive
- New sanctions for when Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA (known as COPEN 24) does not apply
- New definitions for competent authority, central authority, final administrative decision, non-payment of road user charges, environmental zone, parking offence, bus and tram lane offence, moving traffic offence and other major road safety offences
- Member states having the authority to choose their competent authority.
Additionally the Transport Committee rapporteur Ines Ayala Sender added five clauses, which the SPARKS Programme and Transport for London support. They include:
- Additions to the content of the offence notification
- A new article to ensure payment of financial penalties
- A system for the recognition of administrative decisions not covered by COPEN 24
- An implementation review two years after the directive comes into force.
“We are very pleased with the level of support within the European Parliament transport committee for our amendments,” said SPARKS programme manager Bill Blakemore. “During July we attended both committee meetings and met the rapporteur and two shadow rapporteurs and another four committee members to explain SPARKS concerns.
“The Transport Committee rapporteur Ines Ayala Sender proposed introducing a new mechanism that would encourage enforcement of administrative offences, which fall outside the scope of COPEN 24. This is quite a significant step.
“In the Transport Committee meeting the European Commission’s road safety director Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli said that they broadly agreed with her amendments.”
Expand Title of Directive
This directive represents a real opportunity for the European Parliament to assist Europe’s cities and regions in developing sustainable transport policies.
It should reflect their efforts to manage traffic and parking as part of urban mobility strategies and their efforts to implement sustainable transport policies such as road charging, green zones and traffic restrictions to tackle climate change, pollution and congestion.
If these policies are to be accepted by citizens, they must be enforced fairly. An offender should not be able to avoid sanctions simply because they come from another member state.
Expand Scope
Challenges such as climate change, pollution and congestion are common to all Europe’s cities. The draft directive on road safety has the potential to provide effective cross-border enforcement for national and local policies tackling these three challenges, if the amendments proposed by SPARKS and the rapporteur are accepted by the Transport Committee.
Additional Offences
The six offences SPARKS would like added to the directive are non-payment of road user charges, non-payment for use or non-respect of environmental zones, parking offences, bus and tram lane offences, moving traffic offences and any other major road safety offences. Currently the directive only provides sanctions for speeding, drink-driving, non-use of a seatbelt and failing to stop at a red light.
New Sanctions
COPEN 24 only supports enforcement of sanctions involving criminal offences. Other sanctions must be established to complete the framework agreement, particularly when administrative authorities make the sanction decisions.
Competent Authority
Member states should have the freedom to designate the most appropriate competent authority as the single contact point and to decide the arrangements that will underpin application of the directive in their country.
Full text of the amendments proposed or supported by SPARKS and TfL
July’s position letter
European traffic facts and figures |
|
Facts & Figures- Over 3 million foreign registered vehicles (FRVs)enter the UK each year
- At any one time 142,000 FRVs are in the UK - 90% are cars, 8% are HGVs, 1% are coaches
- At any one time 3% of all vehicles driving on London's roads are FRVs; 47% are cars, 43% are HGVs, 7% are coaches
 |
