In a short period of time, distraction in road traffic has become one of the most common causes of accidents in recent years. This is why ROADPOL resumed the operation “Focus on the Road" this year.

In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic all pan-European controls initiated by ROADPOL were suspended. Traffic checks did not have priority and polices forces were required in different areas.

At the start of the ROADPOL Safety Days and the European Mobility Week, there was some capacity to resume traffic controls. Members started with the controlling of distraction, but unfortunately not all members succeeded in conducting controls".

From 14 to 20 September, 13 countries participated in this operation and checked road users for the prohibited use of mobile phones, other technical devices as well as other forms of distractions.

Although the regulations are different in European countries, in most of them the use of mobile phones without hand-free equipment while driving is forbidden.

The police of the participating countries checked over 41200 road users at more ten 36000 control spots for which there were 71618 different types of violations were found.

14563 drivers used their mobile phones to call or text while driving without a hand-free equipment.

275 drivers used their devices as a navigation system (without hands-free equipment).

14536 drivers were caught by watching TV or DVDs, reading a newspaper or eating while driving (forbidden in Switzerland and Poland as a driver during the transport of people).

These numbers clearly show how important road safety and distraction controls are, as there are still too many drivers distracted by technical equipment instead of paying attention to the road.

The overestimation of one's own driving ability and the wrong assessment of traffic situations are often the reason for serious traffic accidents.

During “Focus on the road” police checked whether drivers and passengers were wearing seatbelts too. 25616 persons didn’t use their seatbelt, which is obviously still a huge safety problem.

The witness helped to eliminate the drunk driver from the traffic

Thanks to the witness's reaction, the policemen prevented the drunk Ford driver from driving. A 59-year-old man was driving a vehicle with nearly 1 %o of alcohol in his blood. The 59-year-old has already had two records of drunk driving in the past. Now the court will decide about his future.

 Mocktails for everybody

The Belgian Federal Road Police carried out police action in order to save lives,
to prevent people from driving under influence and to reward respectful drivers.

 

Results of the first ROADPOL Safety Days

During the first edition of ROADPOL’s new road safety campaign, 16 countries achieved the goal of zero fatalities on the main campaign day. In Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Portugal, no fatal road crashes were recorded on 17 September.

Sadly, this was not the case everywhere – overall, 34 people lost their lives in a road crash on 17 September, which is however well below than the European average of 70 fatalities per day (see results by country below).

Despite the ongoing pandemic, participation in the campaign was high: during the ROADPOL Safety Days, 336 events took place in 18 countries. Activities varied from additional roadside checks to awareness-raising initiatives, such as vehicle turnover simulations, exhibitions and debates.

Some 667 people signed ROADPOL’s road safety pledge to show their support. New partners in Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia joined the project, as well as the Dubai Police! All signed up to the slogan ‘Stay alive and save lives’, which could be seen in many places and in many languages in Europe and beyond.

From now on, the ROADPOL Safety Days will take place every year from 16 to 22 September, alongside European Mobility Week.

Results by country: Road fatalities on 17 September 2020