May 2012 

Over the next few years, many different measures will be undertaken to improve the safety of European road users, vehicles and road infrastructure. The aim is also to increase national cooperation and share best practices.

The EU’s Road Safety Action Plan has tough goals. It aims to halve the number road fatalities on European roads during the current ten-year period.  Road safety policy guidelines for 2011–2020 include diverse measures aiming at, for example, laying down stricter requirements for vehicle safety.  Moreover, the aim is to improve training provided for road users and increase the control traffic regulations.

Vehicle inspection operations are among the important areas by which road safety is maintained and improved.  At the same time, more uniform practices are sought for it. With this in mind, the European legislation is being amended in order to achieve road safety objectives. At European level, inspections are controlled by the EU roadworthiness test directive. The European Commission has taken steps to develop the road worthiness test directive.

The road worthiness test directive determines the basic level of inspections in all Member States. The Member States can deviate from it but only by improving upon it. The Commission aims to increase the directive requirement level so that the requirements in all Member States would be at the same level. This is a very positive thing for road safety. What is best is that it would simultaneously fulfil the wish of many people; in the future, EU citizens could have their vehicles inspected in any of the Member States. 

Last autumn, the European Parliament issued a statement in which it recommended to the European Commission that vehicle inspections be assigned to independent and certified inspection companies. This independence is part of everyday life in some Member States already, such as Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Germany.  In these countries, vehicle inspections can be performed only by parties independent of repair shops or car dealers.  

Legislation has been a great source of debate also in Finland. It is good to remember that independence enables the continuous development of inspection operations as a sector in its own right – for its part, the consistent high quality promotes the road safety of all road users in Finland.

Kari Kivikoski
CEO