Automobile Clubs and European Parliamentarians Debate Bringing Tunnel Safety to Mobile Consumers
“We have developed and adopted the Directives and Recommendations on how to build and operate safe road tunnels. Now we need to educate road users”, said Reinhardt Rack, MEP.
In a breakfast briefing held 18th October in the European Parliament (EP), the Rapporteur of the EP Report on the minimum safety standards in road tunnels Directive, presented stakeholders (MEP, national and local authorities, road tunnel operators and consumer organisations) with latest results of EuroTAP (European Tunnel Assessment Programme). EuroTAP is the fruit of a pan European partnership of 12 automobile clubs from 11 European countries with more than 37 million motorists as members. The clubs took this opportunity to officially launch their “Safe in the Tunnel” interactive pc game and driver training DVD which target safe driving behaviour in tunnels. These attractive educational materials will be followed shortly by a forthcoming info leaflet for tunnel users.
The key objective of EuroTAP is to translate EU regulations in to practical user-friendly tools that will help improve tunnel safety awareness among European citizen. This goal has been pursued by the clubs since 1999. Over the last six years some 200 tunnels have been tested and the test results have been published across a range of different media all over Europe. Drivers have received tips on how to behave correctly and tunnel operators and authorities have been advised of failings in need repair.
All these tools are aimed at bringing transparency to tunnel users and educating them about how to behave in a tunnel. At the same time these tools remind the users about their rights and obligations as European citizens such as how to drive through tunnels in a manner that fulfils the European minimum safety standards and the obligations of tunnel operators and authorities to ensure that tunnels respect the minimum standards.
EuroTAP believes that regular independent tests together with the optimal provision for the motorists are essential and currently there is no other European project or body who could provide the added value given by this project.
The benefits of this benchmarking exercise have been acknowledged and supported by the European Parliament in its recent Resolution on the European Road Safety Action Programme, produced by Ari Vatanen, MEP. EuroTest and EuroTAP are named as examples of good practice in Europe.
The work of the 12 automobile clubs who form the EuroTAP consortium is contributing decisively to the rapid increase of citizens’ safety across Europe. EuroTAP will go on monitoring the changes in the safety level of European tunnels fulfilling its mission to inform the mobile consumers of its findings.
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