91997E2732

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2732/97 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (1 September 1997)

Subject: Accidents and road safety in Greece

According to Eurostat data (Weekly Europe No 1011), Greece has the highest road accident mortality rate in the European Union - 47.5% higher than the EU average. According to Commission information, the direct cost of road accidents in the Union is estimated at ECU 15 billion annually, the economic loss amounts to a further ECU 30 billion, the 'cost' in terms grief and suffering is another ECU 100 million, etc.

Will the Commission say:

(a) whether it has similar cost assessments for Greece;

(b) whether it has information for assessing the main causes of fatal accidents in Greece; and

(c) what steps (direct or indirect) the EU can take to help address this problem?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (6 October 1997)

In 1994, 2 050 people were killed and 29 722 injured in road accidents in Greece. This is equivalent to some 987 killed per million passenger cars registered. The corresponding figure for the Community is 298 fatalities per million passenger cars registered. The Commission does not have precise estimates of the costs of road accidents in Greece. However, the MECU 1 per fatality estimate used in the Commission's 1997 document, would suggest that the hard economic costs of road accidents in Greece amounted to some MECU 2.000 in 1994.

Information relating to further road accident figures for Greece and to the economic consequences of road accidents is available in the communication 'Promoting road safety in the Community' ((COM(97) 131. )). In that communication, a number of proposals for action that would contribute to the reduction of the number of road accidents are listed.