Call for EU ban on alcohol for new drivers

With the number of road deaths in the EU climbing to 40,000 each year, the European Parliament's transport committee has proposed…

With the number of road deaths in the EU climbing to 40,000 each year, the European Parliament's transport committee has proposed that an EU-wide zero alcohol limit be imposed on all new drivers, bus drivers and those carrying hazardous goods.

In a report considered by the parliament in Strasbourg this week, the committee called for a study to harmonise Europe's traffic signs and rules of the road and a general ban on overtaking for vehicles weighing more than 12 tonnes on one and two-lane roads.

MEPs expressed disappointment at the lack of progress being made in halving the number of road deaths by 2010. Figures produced by the committee said road incidents were costing Europe €180 billion annually.

The committee also recommended that there should be a common minimum standard for driving instructors, and that member states should make hands-free mobile telephone systems compulsory for car, bus and commercial drivers.

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Fine Gael senator Jim Higgins MEP welcomed the report which, he said, also found that road crashes were the biggest killer of children, young people and young adults.

"Regrettably Ireland's own performance is very poor," he added.