Zoltán Schváb, Deputy Minister of State for Transport, discussed current transport safety conditions in Hungary and its vision at the PIN Talk conference of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) held on 29 May 2013 in Budapest. He noted that according to preliminary statistical data on the previous year, road accidents involving personal injury decreased by over 15 per cent and the number of accident deaths declined by over 52 per cent as compared to 2001.
According to available data, road accidents involving personal injury declined by approximately 5 per cent in 2012 over the previous year. The improving trend can be observed in the number of transport accidents resulting in death, serious and minor injuries. The number of deaths in road accidents decreased by over 5 per cent in one year.
The Hungarian Road Transport Safety Action Programme defines the principles, objectives, key areas and campaigns of transport safety in the 2011-2013 period. According to the situation analysis of the programme, most accidents are attributed to personal factors, therefore the appropriate management of these is the most important task in road transport safety. In accordance with relevant measures of the EU, the improvement of readiness to comply with rules and of the skills of traffic participants is a priority.
Stricter enforcement of traffic regulations and the improvement of the effectiveness of checks remains a key factor in the reduction of the number of deaths and injuries. On the basis of aggregate data, over 2.6 million cases were registered from May 2008 until the end of 2012 involving objective liability. An average of over 61 thousand public administration procedures — concluded with sanctions — were launched each month, 86 per cent of them related to exceeding the speed limit. Approximately HUF 16 billion in public administration fines were imposed last year against vehicle operators in connection with offences falling within the scope of objective liability.
To further improve the safety of children and juveniles in traffic, modern transport safety education is necessary, where the content and form of such education is adjusted to age. The website www.tanuloknak.hu was set up to serve this purpose as well, which is capable of serving the training of 800 thousand people and at least 20 thousand people simultaneously. The e-learning material — completed with a test — provides general traffic knowledge. “The senior pupils of primary schools focus on pedestrian and bicycle transport, while secondary school students learn the most important transport rules, general conditions applicable to pedestrians, bicycles and mopeds in the programme” explained Zoltán Schváb.
The Brussels based European Transport Safety Council is a non-profit organisation that was established in 1993. The ETSC advises the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States on transport safety issues. Since 2007, the organisation has been publishing the results of its annual report at its conference held in June of each year. The Council also awards the PIN Award to countries that accomplish outstanding progress in road safety. Hungary received the award last year. The ETSC also organises national meetings (PIN Talks) in different countries that serve the implementation of its objectives.
(Ministry of National Development)
