International Dealer News IDN 147 February/March 2019 | Page 13
news ROOM
European Council:
‘Motorcycle safety
must be part of road
safety procedures’
At the most recent meeting of
European ministers for
transport in Brussels it was
agreed that the EU should
reform and strengthen road
infrastructure management
rules.
The Council of the European
Union agreed its position on a
proposal from the third
Mobility package by the
European Commission to
strengthen road infrastructure
management to reduce road
fatalities and serious injuries.
The reform of the Road
Infrastructure Safety
Management Directive will
extend the scope of the current
rules to motorways and other
primary roads beyond the
trans-European transport
network (TEN-T). This will
contribute significantly to the
improvement of road
infrastructure safety across the
European Union. The directive
would also cover roads outside
urban areas that are built using
EU funding - which is
something that FEMA (The
Federation of European
Motorcyclist Associations) has
been lobbying for. “It will
become mandatory to take
account of vulnerable road
users such as motorcyclists in
road safety management
procedures.”
The proposal introduces a
network-wide road safety
assessment, which is a snapshot
of the entire road network
covered by the directive used
to evaluate accident risk.
Authorities will use the findings
to carry out more targeted road
safety inspections or take direct
remedial action. It will become
FEMA General Secretary Dolf
Willigers: “From now on road
authorities will have to take
vulnerable road users, including
motorcyclists, into account with all
decisions regarding the main roads
in Europe”
mandatory to take systematic
account of pedestrians, cyclists
and other vulnerable road users
such as motorcyclists and other
users of powered two-wheelers
in road safety management
procedures. These road users
accounted for almost half of
road fatalities in the EU in
2017.
FEMA General Secretary Dolf
Willigers said: “This is a
pleasant surprise. The decision
of the Council is exactly what
we have asked for. This is great
news for motorcyclists. From
now on road authorities will
have to take vulnerable road
users, including motorcyclists,
into account with all decisions
regarding the main roads in
Europe. This will lead to better
road safety for motorcyclists.”