7.7.2012   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 199/188

—

having regard to Rule 123 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) make up 3 % of the EU vehicle fleet, but give rise to 14 % of fatal collisions, amounting to more than 4 000 annual fatalities in the 27 Member States of the European Union,

B.

whereas in Europe every year, some 400 people, mostly unprotected road users such as cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians, are killed because of HGV ‘blind spots’,

C.

whereas many of these fatalities could be avoided by the full installation of mirrors or increasingly cheap camera-monitor devices, active warning systems, advanced emergency braking and lane departure warning systems,

D.

whereas significant and dangerous blind spots remain around HGVs despite the increased visibility requirements of Directives 2003/97/EC and 2007/38/EC for newly registered HGVs and HGVs in circulation respectively,

E.

whereas the 2007 requirements are weaker than those of 2003 and have been insufficiently implemented by Member States, despite the EU’s aspiration to cut road fatalities by half,

1.

Urges the Commission to speed up its evaluation of Directive 2007/38/EC and to revise it in order to align it with technological advancement and with the latest indirect vision equipment requirements for newly registered trucks, so as to ensure an optimum level of safety;

2.

Urges the Commission to ensure that no exemptions are provided to the mandatory fitting of advanced emergency braking systems and lane departure warning systems in accordance with General Safety Regulation (EC) No 661/2009;

3.

Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories (1), to the Council and the Commission.