eBook: Road safety for fleets – from now to 2030

Across much of Europe, we have made significant progress in terms of road safety over the past two decades – road traffic fatalities have fallen by two thirds since 2000. But the rate of improvement has stalled recently, with half of European countries even posting increased vehicle-related fatalities in 2021. In spite of vast improvements to vehicle safety, we are not yet on the trajectory set out by “Vision Zero” – the European Union’s aim to reduce Road Safety deaths by half by the end of 2030 and to zero by 2050.

Protecting human lives and livelihoods disproportionately contributes to economic and social gain. What’s more, improving road safety and reducing emissions are both clear commitments made within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. And it simply makes sense; it’s the humane thing to do.

Key to understanding road safety, is recognising all the elements involved. Human behavior may result in the vast majority of casualties, but road safety is not about assigning blame, or just improving drivers. Vision Zero cannot be achieved by simply adding more driver assistance systems or implementing stricter penalties on drivers. Thinking systemically about road safety means understanding all contributors to it.

Neckermann Strategic Advisors and the Arval Mobility Observatory have collaborated on this eBook, which reviews the the current factors contributing to crashes across Europe, and what can be done to achieve Vision Zero. It highlights human, infrastructural, policy and technological solutions to protect vulnerable road users. And finally, to reflect the special responsibility that fleets carry to promote road safety, it proposes a ten-point road safety plan for corporate mobility.

We hope this publication will help drive road safety through all its facets and contributes to making fleet and mobility managers a significant part of the solution.