1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,680 Every year, close to 40,000 people die on Europe's roads. 2 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,480 That's the equivalent of a medium-range jet crashing every day. 3 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,400 Add to that figure 1,700,000 people injured. 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,360 Besides this huge human toll, road accidents cost society more than 160 billion euro per 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:29,940 year. 6 00:00:29,940 --> 00:00:32,140 Roads are getting safer and safer. 7 00:00:32,140 --> 00:00:35,820 It's essentially the way drivers behave which is to blame. 8 00:00:35,820 --> 00:00:41,620 Not surprisingly, excessive speed, alcohol abuse, and not wearing seatbelts are the things 9 00:00:41,620 --> 00:00:45,240 that put people most at risk. 10 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,300 In the light of this, the European Union is proposing a strategy to halve the number of 11 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:51,980 road deaths by 2010. 12 00:00:51,980 --> 00:00:56,700 Commissioner Loyola de Palacio says the slaughter must be stopped. 13 00:00:56,700 --> 00:01:06,380 When we set out to halve the number of road deaths, we are not talking about utopias. 14 00:01:06,380 --> 00:01:12,100 We are simply talking about the results, the levels of sinestrality or safety that are 15 00:01:12,100 --> 00:01:18,300 achieved in the two best countries in the Union, which are Sweden and Great Britain, 16 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:21,900 being the levels that are achieved in the rest of the Union countries. 17 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:28,900 The strategy, the first thing to do is to ensure that the drivers comply with the rules. 18 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:35,340 When an analysis is made of the causes of the accidents, we find that in most cases 19 00:01:35,340 --> 00:01:40,980 it is simply due to a breach of the rules of the traffic codes of the different states 20 00:01:40,980 --> 00:01:41,980 of the European Union. 21 00:01:41,980 --> 00:01:47,100 Indeed, there is more to safety than simply imposing regulations. 22 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:48,860 They must also be respected. 23 00:01:48,860 --> 00:01:50,860 The statistics speak for themselves. 24 00:01:51,860 --> 00:01:58,860 Great Britain has an alcohol content of 0.7, while Sweden has the opposite, 25 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:01,860 one of the lowest alcohol contents in the whole of the European Union. 26 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:03,860 They are the two countries that do it best. 27 00:02:03,860 --> 00:02:10,860 Despite having somewhat different positions, both achieve good results, 28 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:16,860 simply because in both cases what is achieved is that the rules are met. 29 00:02:17,860 --> 00:02:22,860 Experience shows that strict enforcement alongside regular publicity campaigns 30 00:02:22,860 --> 00:02:25,860 are the best antidote to reckless behaviour on the roads. 31 00:02:25,860 --> 00:02:29,860 France has been applying this therapy for more than a year, and it's working. 32 00:02:29,860 --> 00:02:34,860 Paris was partly inspired by the Netherlands, which has demonstrated that crackdowns 33 00:02:34,860 --> 00:02:36,860 really do work as a means of prevention. 34 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:40,860 After Great Britain and Sweden, Dutch roads are the safest in Europe. 35 00:02:41,860 --> 00:02:45,860 The annual death toll is 68 per million inhabitants. 36 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:50,860 That's nearly three times fewer than in Greece, and 30% lower than the European average. 37 00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:56,860 Holland has achieved this through tough police patrols on the roads, 38 00:02:56,860 --> 00:02:58,860 and making sure that people know about them. 39 00:02:59,860 --> 00:03:03,860 It can't be the case that in the Netherlands people say, 40 00:03:03,860 --> 00:03:06,860 I had no idea that the police were checking. 41 00:03:06,860 --> 00:03:10,860 Everyone knows that the police check a lot, and that you have to behave properly. 42 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:14,860 The responsibility lies with the officers themselves. 43 00:03:15,860 --> 00:03:19,860 The system is fair, the system is tough, it's very strict, 44 00:03:19,860 --> 00:03:23,860 but there is no secrecy about the checks. 45 00:03:23,860 --> 00:03:25,860 Everyone knows what's going on. 46 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:29,860 99.9% of all fines are paid. 47 00:03:29,860 --> 00:03:36,860 The administrative system that the Netherlands uses is very effective and efficient. 48 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:39,860 Repression is not a goal, absolutely not. 49 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:43,860 It's just a means of getting people to behave better. 50 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:48,860 It's a means of getting to prevention. 51 00:03:49,860 --> 00:03:53,860 Today, in line with what's being done in the UK, Sweden, France and Holland, 52 00:03:53,860 --> 00:03:58,860 the European Commission is proposing an overall increase in roadside checks throughout Europe 53 00:03:58,860 --> 00:04:00,860 to reduce reckless behaviour. 54 00:04:02,860 --> 00:04:04,860 First, speed. 55 00:04:04,860 --> 00:04:09,860 Excessive speed is responsible for a third of serious accidents in the European Union. 56 00:04:09,860 --> 00:04:16,860 Stricter speed controls could save on average 11,000 lives and avoid 180,000 injuries every year. 57 00:04:16,860 --> 00:04:20,860 Brussels wants to see Member States introducing widespread controls 58 00:04:20,860 --> 00:04:23,860 at stretches of road where speeding is likely. 59 00:04:23,860 --> 00:04:29,860 An example would be to increase automatic radar detectors on motorways, trunk roads and in towns. 60 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:34,860 Police forces must also have sufficient means to handle a large number of offences 61 00:04:34,860 --> 00:04:37,860 and systematically impose sanctions. 62 00:04:40,860 --> 00:04:42,860 Second, drink driving. 63 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:45,860 It kills more than 10,000 people a year in Europe. 64 00:04:45,860 --> 00:04:50,860 Among them a worrying number of young people, victims of Saturday night fever. 65 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:56,860 Statistics on fatal accidents involving 18 to 25-year-olds show two peak periods 66 00:04:56,860 --> 00:04:59,860 in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday morning. 67 00:05:02,860 --> 00:05:07,860 Every weekend about 40 young people lose their lives on our roads. 68 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:12,860 It's been proven that regular random controls at critical points and times do work. 69 00:05:12,860 --> 00:05:14,860 They need to be applied systematically 70 00:05:14,860 --> 00:05:17,860 and the police must have breath-testing equipment that's accurate 71 00:05:17,860 --> 00:05:20,860 and reliable enough to prove an offence on the spot. 72 00:05:24,860 --> 00:05:28,860 As to seatbelts, their value is no longer in question. 73 00:05:28,860 --> 00:05:31,860 They must be worn by law throughout the European Union, 74 00:05:31,860 --> 00:05:35,860 in front seats and also it must be underlined in the rear. 75 00:05:35,860 --> 00:05:39,860 When you realise that the impact of a collision at only 50 km per hour 76 00:05:39,860 --> 00:05:42,860 is equivalent to that of falling from a four-storey building, 77 00:05:42,860 --> 00:05:46,860 it's disturbing that many people simply forget to fasten their seatbelts. 78 00:05:50,860 --> 00:05:54,860 The European Commission wants every country to run intensive police controls 79 00:05:54,860 --> 00:05:58,860 several times a year for a minimum period of two weeks. 80 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:02,860 Linked to awareness campaigns, this crackdown on seatbelt wearing 81 00:06:02,860 --> 00:06:06,860 could save the lives of 10,000 absent-minded people every year. 82 00:06:13,860 --> 00:06:17,860 And every offence must be followed up by an effective punishment. 83 00:06:17,860 --> 00:06:19,860 Without that, the checks are meaningless. 84 00:06:22,860 --> 00:06:25,860 Here again, the Netherlands seems to have got it right. 85 00:06:25,860 --> 00:06:29,860 The Hague has removed highway co-defences from an overloaded judiciary system 86 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:33,860 and has chosen instead to impose administrative fines. 87 00:06:37,860 --> 00:06:39,860 It's tough to be a policeman. 88 00:06:40,860 --> 00:06:46,860 The judiciary system has never been developed to process large amounts of fines. 89 00:06:46,860 --> 00:06:50,860 That means that the fines cannot be processed in the judicial system. 90 00:06:50,860 --> 00:06:52,860 Then the system blocks. 91 00:06:52,860 --> 00:06:55,860 And the result is that people no longer receive those fines at home. 92 00:06:55,860 --> 00:06:57,860 That the fines don't arrive. 93 00:06:57,860 --> 00:06:59,860 And that the opposite happens. 94 00:06:59,860 --> 00:07:03,860 That the system doesn't become credible, but more unbelievable. 95 00:07:03,860 --> 00:07:06,860 That people get the idea that you can be checked, 96 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:09,860 but you have a good chance of getting out under those fines. 97 00:07:10,860 --> 00:07:12,860 And what about trucks on the roads? 98 00:07:12,860 --> 00:07:16,860 Increasing traffic, market demands and fierce competition 99 00:07:16,860 --> 00:07:20,860 experienced by transport operators must surely have an impact on road safety. 100 00:07:22,860 --> 00:07:26,860 To get a feeling for this, we took our cameras to a roadside checkpoint. 101 00:07:37,860 --> 00:07:39,860 They drive 24 hours non-stop. 102 00:07:39,860 --> 00:07:42,860 We have infractions in the driving time, we have frauds, taxidermists. 103 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:46,860 It's outright falsification of names, 104 00:07:46,860 --> 00:07:50,860 disc changes in the middle of the day. 105 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:54,860 On Tuesday, we had an Italian driver who apparently removed the fuse 106 00:07:54,860 --> 00:07:56,860 from his taxidermist device while driving. 107 00:07:56,860 --> 00:07:58,860 That way, the recordings don't get lost. 108 00:07:58,860 --> 00:07:59,860 We have to. 109 00:07:59,860 --> 00:08:00,860 Do you know how to eat? 110 00:08:00,860 --> 00:08:02,860 You have to work 8 hours a day. 111 00:08:02,860 --> 00:08:04,860 You have to be paid 250 francs per hour. 112 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:08,860 You have to be able to work for 48 hours. 113 00:08:08,860 --> 00:08:10,860 Otherwise, you have to work as hard as you can. 114 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:13,860 If you start your day at 5 o'clock and finish at 8 o'clock, 115 00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:15,860 I'm sorry, but at the end of the day, you're on your truck. 116 00:08:16,860 --> 00:08:18,860 Driving and rest periods for truck drivers 117 00:08:18,860 --> 00:08:21,860 are strictly regulated throughout the European Union. 118 00:08:21,860 --> 00:08:23,860 For their own safety and that of others, 119 00:08:23,860 --> 00:08:27,860 drivers can spend no more than 10 hours behind the wheel per day. 120 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:30,860 Unfortunately, some drivers exceed this limit. 121 00:08:31,860 --> 00:08:35,860 This is unfair competition and also puts other people in danger. 122 00:08:35,860 --> 00:08:39,860 And it's a factor in 50% of all offences involving trucks. 123 00:08:40,860 --> 00:08:43,860 Ignoring road safety takes its toll. 124 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:05,860 In that sense, digital tachographs will be a key instrument 125 00:09:05,860 --> 00:09:07,860 to improve this situation. 126 00:09:31,860 --> 00:09:35,860 In particular, it wants to triple the number of checks 127 00:09:35,860 --> 00:09:38,860 at the roadside and on transport company premises. 128 00:09:38,860 --> 00:09:40,860 It also wants to promote better cooperation 129 00:09:40,860 --> 00:09:43,860 between the enforcement authorities and member states. 130 00:09:43,860 --> 00:09:46,860 This is already happening between 8 countries 131 00:09:46,860 --> 00:09:48,860 under the auspices of Euro Control Route. 132 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:51,860 Well, Euro Control Route brings together 133 00:09:51,860 --> 00:09:54,860 the road transport enforcement agencies of the 8 member states 134 00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:57,860 in a spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance. 135 00:09:57,860 --> 00:10:02,860 Well, the strongest point is the cooperation that's taking place, 136 00:10:02,860 --> 00:10:06,860 the networking between officials from different jurisdictions, 137 00:10:06,860 --> 00:10:09,860 the transfer of information, 138 00:10:09,860 --> 00:10:12,860 getting information, particularly in your own country, 139 00:10:12,860 --> 00:10:14,860 about how your operators behave 140 00:10:14,860 --> 00:10:17,860 while they're travelling in other member states, 141 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:20,860 and following up on that kind of information 142 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:24,860 and paying visits to the premises of operators 143 00:10:25,860 --> 00:10:29,860 who have broken the rules while they're abroad, that sort of thing. 144 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:32,860 These measures could well be unpopular, 145 00:10:32,860 --> 00:10:35,860 but no one can deny the benefits for road safety 146 00:10:35,860 --> 00:10:38,860 and a reduction in the human cost of accidents. 147 00:10:38,860 --> 00:10:41,860 If we want to save 20,000 lives every year by 2010, 148 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:43,860 it's clear what needs to be done. 149 00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:46,860 The Commission is giving member states 3 years 150 00:10:46,860 --> 00:10:48,860 to obtain significant results. 151 00:10:48,860 --> 00:10:51,860 If not, it already has in mind more radical measures, 152 00:10:51,860 --> 00:10:53,860 and there's no time to be lost. 153 00:10:53,860 --> 00:10:55,860 For with every day that passes, 154 00:10:55,860 --> 00:10:58,860 100 more people will lose their lives on Europe's roads.