Safety device could prevent one in 14 car fatalities yearly

One in 14 car deaths in Europe every year could be prevented through the mandatory installation of a simple road safety device already fitted in many vehicles.

New research shows the total number of motorists and their passengers killed in car collisions in the EU in 2012 was 12,345, including 89 in Ireland. The figures exclude fatalities among other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

It also reveals that Ireland has the highest level of fatalities among women drivers in the EU — accounting for almost a quarter of such deaths in Ireland between 2010 and 2012 — twice the EU average.

However, the report by the European Transport Safety Council also praised Ireland for its reduction in drink-driving deaths over the past decade, which, it said, was “at the core of Ireland’s success in road safety”.

The ETSC claims 900 lives could be saved every year if EU car manufacturers were required to fit seat belt reminder sensors to front and rear passenger seats.

The European Commission is revising vehicle safety rules, with new proposals expected in 2015.

“While huge progress has been made in cutting the number of people killed in cars on Europe’s roads, it is simply wrong that 12,000 still die every year for reasons that are mostly avoidable,” said ETSC executive director, Antonio Avenoso.

Despite improvements in vehicle safety, drink-driving, and speeding are still contributing to a high proportion of deaths on European roads.

The ETSC estimates that half of the annual total of EU road fatalities among car occupants, around 5,600 deaths, could be prevented through the elimination of drink-driving, and a further 1,300 if the average road speed was reduced by just 1km per hour.

It has also called on the EU to expand the use of alcohol interlocks — a device to prevent motorists above the legal drink-driving limit from starting their vehicle — for repeat drink-driving offenders and for better enforcement of speed limits across all 28 EU member states.

The number of car occupants killed in 2012 represents a reduction of 55% annually since the start of the millennium.

The ETSC said car occupants, more than other road users, had benefited from road safety measures adopted over the past decade. However, the reverse is true here, where deaths among other road users have fallen at a slightly faster rate.

Car occupants still accounted for almost half of all road fatalities in Europe between 2010 and 2012. However, the figure ranges from just over 30% in the Netherlands to 80% in Hungary. In Ireland, car occupants accounted for 55% with more than half of such fatalities occurring from single vehicle collisions. Ireland also has above-average levels of fatal head-on collisions.

The research shows Ireland is ranked 15th in terms of its average annual reduction in car occupant deaths since 2001 at 7.4% — the same rate as the EU average.

The ETSC, which includes the Road Safety Authority as a member, said the EU average of 12% of front-seat passengers and 26% of rear seat passengers who still don’t wear seat belts is a “cause of concern.”

It estimated that 8,600 people have survived a severe collision in 2012 because they were wearing their seatbelt.