Crossing the street in Europe is not child's play!

Harmonisation needed on national traffic rules for pedestrian crossings

New EuroTest survey reveals more action is needed to reduce pedestrian crossings fatalities

When it comes to crossing the street in Europe, an internal market of safety does not apply! EuroTest reveals that pedestrian crossings need to be made safer. Automobile clubs insist that pedestrian crossings must be safe places for pedestrians to cross the street. And they must be fully integrated in the urban and rural mobility network.

Europe's motoring and touring organisations' have piloted a EuroTest survey of pedestrian crossings across Europe. The high number of children and elderly people still being the main victims of accidents occurring on pedestrian crossings shows that despite the improvements achieved in Europe more can still be done to decrease pedestrian crossings fatalities.

A new pan-European study led by the major automobile clubs in 10 European countries¹ , all members of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) within the scope of EuroTest and under the leadership of the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) reveals that across European travellers are faced with different national rules being applied to pedestrian crossings and their rights and obligations when crossing the street. In the face of this myriad of rules the study recommends the harmonisation of road traffic rules for drivers and pedestrian crossings in Europe.

The study shows that in Norway, Switzerland and Italy have the highest rates of fatalities occurring on pedestrian crossings, in comparison with other countries. In Spain and Great Britain, pedestrians account for the majority of road fatalities. However, most of these victims are killed outside of pedestrian crossings. So using a pedestrian crossing is safer. A special award has to be given to the Netherlands, the country which almost always scored the best result.

"No tourist travelling in Europe would ever think to find out about crossing the street outside of their own country. It's not information that you would find in any guidebook. But this survey reveals that the rules everywhere in Europe about how when and where you can cross the street are not the same. Pedestrian crossings are not the same and your chances of crossing safely using them vary significantly." said Caroline Ofoegbu of the FIA European Bureau.

Targeted awareness actions in Spain
Given Spain's high rates on the pedestrian crossings fatalities, a major campaign was launched out of the pedestrian crossings test in both Barcelona and Madrid.

With the agreement of the authorities in both cities, pedestrian crossings on key roads (two in Barcelona and 12 in Madrid) in both cities were reconfigured to show pictograms with the message that 1 in 3 traffic fatalities are pedestrians. The crossings will remain in place for at least six weeks. Other cities like Seville and Valencia might follow.

A video on the launch of the campaign was launched on YouTube and can be accessed here. Photos of the campaign are also available here.

To read more on the results of the Pedestrian Crossings survey (including survey's methodology, findings and recommendations), click here.

 ^{1ÖAMTC (Austria), TCB (Belgium), AL (Finland), ADAC (Germany), AA (Great Britain), ACI (Italy), ANWB (Netherlands), NAF (Norway), RACC and RACE (Spain), TCS (Switzerland)}