Photo by Robert Kuykendall / Flickr

Member states of the EU will have to have transposed the Cross Border Enforcement Directive into their national legisaltion today (7 November 2013).

The proposal for a Directive on cross border enforcement in the field of road safety will target the major offences that cause road traffic injuries to cyclists and, in particular, speeding and drink driving. It will allow for the electronic sharing of data on the owner of the vehicle who has committed the offence to be shared across the EU. The objective is to introduce a system of exchanging information to enable the follow up of road safety related traffic offences committed by non-resident drivers. So from today onwards if you are driving in a foreign country you can be prosecuted in your home country for driving offences committed in another country when you return home.

Offences include some of the major offences that affect cycling casualties, speeding, driving, not stopping at a red light or stop signal and illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device while driving. The level of sanctions applicable is the same as for drivers of cars registered in the country where the offence was committed. These are the list of offences;

•             Speeding,

•             Not using a seatbelt,

•             Not stopping at a red traffic light or other mandatory stop signal,

•             Drink driving,

•             Driving under the influence of drugs,

•             Not wearing a safety helmet (for motorcyclists),

•             Using a forbidden lane (such as the forbidden use of an emergency lane, a lane reserved for  public transport, or a lane closed down for road works),

•             Illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device, while driving.

According to the Commission, a foreign-registered car is three times more likely to commit traffic offences than a domestically-registered one. 15% of speed offences are committed by a foreign registered car even though they account for only 5% of the traffic in the EU.

Denmark, Ireland and UK have yet to opt into the Directive but can do so at any stage by informing the European Commission; Danes, Brits and Irish feel free to contact your Government if you think this is important to you.

The ECF Road Safety Charter had identified the Cross-Border enforcement Directive as a key issue as it would result in higher levels of safety through enforcement. We are very glad that our lobbying and support of this Directive has paid off.

About the Author 

Ceri Woolsgrove is the ECF Policy Officer for Road Safety & Technical Issues. He is from the UK and has worked extensively in London, Brighton, Liverpool (UK), Hang Zhou (China) and now in Brussels. His previous employment was for an organisation representing the transport industry in Brussels. Ceri has a Master’s degree in Globalization and International Policy Analysis from the University of Bath, and Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex.