ETSC – Ebola

etsc-logoETSC – European Road Safety Transport Council

Has this safety body lost the plot?

Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director – states – “Amidst the screaming headlines surrounding the possibility of an outbreak of Ebola in Europe over the last few weeks, I can’t help but question our society’s perception of risk.

Less than a handful of people have died from Ebola in Europe and those that tragically have were all medical staff in direct contact with sufferers.

The WHO maintains that a major outbreak in Western Europe is ‘unlikely’.

“But every week in Europe, on average, 500 people die on our roads.

Since 2001, more than half a million have lost their lives.

And yet, the political response to the daily tragedy of those killed by speeding or drunk drivers is very often lacklustre, to put it mildly.

Are politicians lacklustre in their response to road safety?

Or has ETSC used Ebola as a means to promote their safety stance (in bad taste)?

ETSC’s stances on Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) – “GPS-linked database of speed limits, which can be combined with cameras that read road signs, to inform drivers about speed limits and help them to stick to them with tactile feedback (added resistance on the accelerator pedal).”

Or their wish to see, “Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) systems on all new cars and vans, it is already mandatory on lorries and buses. The latest systems are able to detect not just cars, but also pedestrians and cyclists and apply the brakes automatically and safely.”

We all want to improve conditions for road users including motorcyclists but do we really need this sort of rhetoric?

In our view this sort of sensationalism doesn’t help.

View the full ETSC article on their website  – Click Here

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  1. We all know politicians too well and they will spin anything – even if it isn’t appropriate.

    The worrying thing is that having read the article rather than dealing with the problem head on of bad or illegal driving by a minority of drivers they are tarring us all with the same brush and then they hope to solve it by using machines

    What next a machine that scans you and if it deems you overweight stops you entering a cake shop.

    The more I read the nearer we are getting to autonomous driving then who do we blame?

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