Press Release ECE/TRANS/00/8
Geneva, 12 July 2000
UN/ECE1/ IMPROVES SAFETY IN ROAD
TUNNELS
A UN/ECE Ad hoc Multidisciplinary Group of
Experts on Safety in Tunnels, created following tragic accidents in the Mont-Blanc and
Tauern tunnels last year, held its first meeting in Geneva on 10 and 11 July 2000.
Government delegates from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey participated in the meeting. Relevant governmental and
non-governmental organizations were also represented.
On the basis of proposals made by the Governments of Switzerland and
France, as well as by other international organizations, the Group had a preliminary
exchange of views on a wide array of possible measures to improve safety in road tunnels.
The measures considered by the Group concerned the various transport and traffic areas
which may be involved in tunnel accidents, including the behaviour of road users in the
tunnel, traffic regulations, tunnel operation, infrastructure, vehicle requirements and
the safety of the transport of dangerous goods in tunnels. The criteria for consideration
of measures included cost-effectiveness, availability of funding, time for implementation
and compatibility with European legislation.
The Group focussed on possible measures to improve the behaviour of
road users in tunnels, including driver training, information and education. Among these
measures, the Group discussed the possibility that future tests for issuing driving
permits include questions on how to behave correctly in case of a traffic jam or fire in a
tunnel. It also considered the possibility that drivers of heavy commercial goods
vehicles, as well as of buses and coaches, be given continuous training, including on
proper behaviour in tunnels. The possibility of periodical tests for those drivers was
also mentioned.
Additionally, the Group gave consideration to measures aimed at
improving the safety of the transport of dangerous goods in tunnels, including the
adoption of rational risk assessment criteria for the selection of the safest routes for
vehicles carrying such goods, depending on the level of danger of the cargo for the
traffic, the population in the vicinity of such itineraries and the infrastructure.
These and other possible measures will be further discussed in
forthcoming meetings of the Group in order to produce by the autumn 2001 a set of commonly
agreed recommendations to UN/ECE Governments to improve safety on European tunnels.
This set of recommendations will be examined in February 2002 by the
UN/ECE Inland Transport Committee, which will request its subsidiary bodies to identify
those recommendations which may be made legally binding through their introduction in the
various UN/ECE transport Agreements and Conventions concerned.
Finally, the Group agreed to make a compilation of national
legislations concerning safety in road tunnels together with an inventory of road tunnels
of 1000 m and longer, as well as of main accidents occurred therein.
_______________________
1/ The UN/ECE is the Geneva
based European branch of the United Nations. Its membership comprises all European
countries, the United States of America, Canada, Israel and the Republics of the Caucasus
and Central Asia.
* * *
For any further information regarding this Meeting you may contact:
José Capel Ferrer, Director, or
Jerzy Witkowski, Economic Affairs Officer
Transport Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: (+41-22) 917 2400 or 917 3259
Fax: (+41-22) 907 0039
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
In order to provide you with a
better service, we would appreciate it if you would send a copy of your article to: Information Unit, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), Palais des
Nations, Room 356, CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland,
Tel: +(41 22) 917 44 44, Fax: +(41 22) 917 05 05,
E-mail: [email protected],
Website: http://www.unece.org
Thank you. |