1. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport Medril Workshop Brussels, 25 November 2005 Impact of medical conditions on road safety Joël Valmain DG TREN, E3

2. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport2 The European Road Safety Action Programme (2003-2010) HALVING THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS BY 2010 A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

3. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport3 Evolution 1990-2010

4. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport4 Medical impairments and statistics l Almost no concrete figures collected l Mainly estimated figures available, in comparison with different figures

5. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport5 Example: Alcohol and drugs l Alcohol : before 2010 decrease the number of alcohol- related road accidents. Nearly 1 accident in 4 still can be attributed to excessive alcohol consumption l Drug : Prevalence of drug and medicine consumption in accidents can reach 15% ; number of accidents attributed to drug and medicines consumption continues to increase l Reduction of the number of accidents under the influence of alcohol and psychoactive substances is therefore imperative l

6. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport6 « Saturday night fever »

7. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport7 Other example: elderly drivers l Statistics: u For those who are 70 years old or more, the death rate is higher for pedestrians than for car drivers, 40% versus 12% (CARE) u But the curve of drivers killed on the road is strongly increasing as of the age of 70 l Reasons: u Medical impairments ? Consumption of medicines ? l Legislation, mainly medical check u Different from one MS to another: medical check at the age of 70 years (IE, DK, NL, FI, UK), 65 years (EL, PT), 50 years (LU)

8. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport8 Conclusion l These examples show that there is a lack of knowledge about the impact of medical conditions on road safety l An improvement in data collection would be a step forward l Some studies on relative risk do exist l Indeed figures are needed to define policies

9. Information and communicationDirectorate general for Energy and Transport9 Websites l Commission transport website http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/index_en.html l Road transport section http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/road/index_en.htm l CARE database http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/home/care/index_en. htm l Driving licences http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/home/drivinglicence/ index_en.htm