Many road safety measures were originally devised to protect motor racing drivers.
Many road safety measures were originally devised to protect motor racing drivers. No one knows this better than rally driver turned MEP Krzysztof Holowczyc. A champion in his native Poland and European rally champion in 1997, he has turned his attention to politics. The 46 year old now sits as a Christian Democrat in the European Parliament. We asked him about road safety. What can be done to reduce death toll on European roads?
Road accident death statistics are very gloomy, with the countries that recently joined the EU having the dubious distinction of topping the charts. Fortunately we have moved from wishful thinking to substantial changes. Two projects concern me in a particular way as a race driver: intelligent car and eCall.
There is a strong trend to introduce regulation that would require a vast range of track control systems in new cars. If such an “intelligent” car drives slightly out of balance, the whole electronics system gets back on track and allows it to escape danger.
The eCall system is already well advanced in Europe. After a car accident, a special device preinstalled in the vehicle sends an automatic signal to the nearest emergency unit. The faster rescue arrives, the better the chance of survival. As a rally driver I understand how important those minutes are – I simply know how it hurts.
The system has been widely used in motor sport. In the Paris-Dakar Rally, if a car stops en route, the crew has to press the button within 30 seconds, otherwise there is an alert. Most of the road safety solutions were originally conceived to protect the lives of daredevil race drivers. As one of the pack, I enjoy real hands-on experience in EP talks on new road legislation. The figures indicate – and we are talking about human lives here – that eCall could save around 2,500 souls a year in Europe alone.
So we are on the right track?
Our continent is perceived as the place where human life is the most precious in the world. I would like the rest of the world to take the example of Europe and copy our legal solutions. There is still a lot of work ahead – for example we need specific rules on quad bikes. They are great fun, but can also be deadly dangerous. It scares me when I see a teenager on a quad speeding over 100 km/h between cars on a public road without wearing a helmet.
Be nicer to other drivers
There are still too few decently trained drivers in countries like Poland, the Baltic States, Romania and Bulgaria where casualties are high. No wonder there are problems when it costs a third as much to learn to drive as in Germany or France, while car and fuel prices are similar.
Drivers across Europe must learn positive habits. The overarching principle of the “highway code” is common courtesy and respect for other drivers. For example slowing down to let another car change lanes makes you feel good because you are doing somebody a favour.
Environmental reports blame car traffic for high CO2 emissions. Parliament is working on climate change legislation. What solutions do you see?
Of course, the proposed “three times twenty” (20% less CO2 by 2020) rule on emissions makes sense. But I believe that it is above all the current fuel crisis that will force us to seek less petrol-thirsty engines. Lower fuel consumption will naturally decrease emissions of CO2.
We have to think about how to develop our road transport to assure fluidity of traffic. An average lorry that has to stop start and speed up again five times for red lights, burns as much fuel as it takes to drive 20-30 tons 80 kilometers. That is why city bypasses and through arteries need to be streamlined to let drivers maintain an even speed. Transport is the nerve of our economy, our key to development. Do not curb transport – improve it!
Šaltinis:
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