Associations ETRMA and IAM Roadsmart, support EDWARD

Tyre performance key to European Day Without A Road Death awareness-raising campaign

Associations including IAM Roadsmart and the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) have been marking EDWARD “European Day Without A Road Death”. For its part ETRMA has been doing this by informing drivers on the importance of tyre choice and service conditions to improve road safety across Europe.

Project EDWARD is the brainchild of TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network. It urges all road users to take some extra time to consider their driving, riding and cycling and to sign the TISPOL pledge.

TISPOL is concerned that countries who have successfully pursued the EU target of a 50 per cent reduction in road deaths since the start of the decade, have seen this trend stagnate over the past two years.

TISPOL said: “Driver behaviour remains the most important barrier to progress as we approach 2020 and its reduction targets.”

ETRMA signed the EDWARD’s road safety pledge, which also includes the importance of performing safety checks on tyres. In signing the Pledge, Fazilet Cinaralp, stated “as Secretary General of the Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association, I strongly support this initiative and its pledge. Road safety starts with us, road users, as it is our chief responsibility to do our best to ensure that we are well equipped to take the road, especially with regard to tyres”.

Cinaralp continued: “Nearly four years after the introduction of the EU Tyre Label, tyre choice is still widely dominated by price considerations. The tyre label remains underused by many consumers. We believe that the uptake and credibility of the label would be enhanced by increasing market surveillance.”

ETRMA also championed the wider use of winter tyres, stating that data from a recent industry campaign shows that the use of winter tyres on passenger cars can reduce the number of accidents caused by lack of grip in winter conditions by 46 per cent.

The tyre industry’s commitment to tyre safety has again been demonstrated by the launch of the pan-European campaign, TyreAWARE. The campaign was designed to raise awareness of best practices and procedures on tyre maintenance, storage conditions and service for dealers, authorities and consumers.

TyreAWARE has been developed in collaboration with the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) and its members.

IAM supports EDWARD

UK road safety charity IAM RoadSmart also supports Project EDWARD, European Day Without a Road Death in its goal of no deaths on European roads for the day. IAM RoadSmart highlighted the dangers of distraction factors to drivers in its report The Battle for Attention earlier this year.

The report investigated Department or Transport figures which showed that in 2013 there were 2,995 cases where distraction in the vehicle was listed as a contributory factor, making up 3 per cent of all accidents, and 1,627 where distraction outside the vehicle was a contributory factor, making up 1 per cent of all accidents.

Sarah Sillars, IAM RoadSmart chief executive officer, said: “Reducing road deaths to zero, if just for one day, would be a powerful shake up to a slowdown in the decrease in the number of road deaths. European Day Without a Death is a brilliant initiative and we are keen to support it through offering practical support and advice to drivers and riders.”