ROADPOL Enhancing Cooperation

With Toll Road Operators

Mrs. Deledda (right) speaking at the event. PHOTO: POLIZIA DI STATO14 APR - ROADPOL and the European toll road operators sector made an important step in enhancing their cooperation in the sphere of road safety.

This was achieved at the 14th Road Safety Conference of the European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) held at Madona di Campiglio 3-5 April.

Topics

The conference run under the theme of “The Safe Road Towards Vision Zero: Perspectives And Challenges”. At the event the European Road Policing Network was invited for a keynote role and was featured in a discussion session focused on the collaboration between concessionaire and traffic police and especially the cross-border emergencies management. In the discussion ROADPOL was presented by Mrs. Federica Deledda, Deputy Commissioner of the Italian State Police and Chief of Traffic Police section of the Province of Cremona in the region of Lombardia, a ROADPOL Executive Committee and Council member.

Discussion

Among the points of discussion at the conference were the effect of the global pandemic and global warming on the European transport sector as well as the rapid advances in technology which lays the foundations for a real revolution in the field of mobility. The digitization of the highways, the development and deployment of autonomous driving vehicles, the end of the endothermic engine and the consequent ecological transition, together with a new concept of inter-modality were also focused at in view of the expectations that these revolutions will have an extraordinary impact in the field of road safety.

Federica Deledda

Priorities

In her presentation Mrs. Deledda pointed out that both ROADPOL and ASECAP consider road safety as the priority mission that guides their work based on the Vision Zero objective indicated by the European Commission, which is not intended to be a utopian goal, but a working method aimed at bringing the number of road accident victims to zero as quickly as possible. Mrs. Deledda informed that regardless of the progress the continent has made in recent years, still 500 people on average die every week on the roads and streets of Europe – or the equivalent of two large passenger airliners crashing and killing all on board. “We need to address road safety as a public health issue and we must act at all levels: local, national, European, global. All actors must be involved: policy makers, car manufacturers, road operators…”, Mrs. Deledda appealed. In view of ROADPOL's Safe System strategy towards the Vision Zero, she emphasized on the safer road as its key pillar together with the safer vehicles, safer road users and safe speed.

Responsibility

“Safer infrastructure is the result of a shared responsibility among road operators, stakeholders and policy makers. The Safe System approach to road engineering involves matching road function, design, layout and speed limits to accommodate human error in a way that crashes do not lead to death and serious injury”, Mrs. Deledda stated in front of an audience comprised of key stakeholders in the system of European toll road infrastructure. “European police forces recognize accidents causes when recording accidents and can give advice to avoid accidents. We have to work together across Europe to achieve a safer road network for all road users. Police have to engage with key stakeholders and exchange experiences and results. We have to engage with road safety authorities regarding safe road design. A good road forgives driver mistakes. A good road should help to avoid accidents, despite drivers mistakes”, Mrs. Deledda concluded.