Ban on commercial radar alerts part of new system
UK motorist driving on left causes serious accident in St Gallen
Accident caused when young man drove on the wrong side of the road - Photo St Gallen Police
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Drivers who follow other cars too closely on highways are committing a “serious” and not a “moderately serious” crime and should have their drivers licenses lifted for three months, the Swiss high court in Lausanne has ruled.
The court ruled in favour of the Service de Navigation in Vaud, which had taken a driver’s license away for three months. He appealed and saw the sentence reduced to two months by a Vaud cantonal court. Today’s ruling dismisses the earlier Vaud one.
The ruling comes the day after the Swiss government set out its plan, Via Sicura, to improve road safety in the country and reduce by 25 percent the number of road deaths and injuries.
The number of deaths has been reduced in the past 10 years by 40 percent, thanks to security measures, says Bern, but 349 people lost their lives in 2009 on Swiss roads and 4,708 were critically injured, roughly a dozen a day.
The cost in human suffering is too high, argues the government, but the cost to the health care system and to the economy is also unacceptable.
According to the high court, the driver who followed another at between 5 and 10 metres was taking far too great a risk: he would have had only 0.3 seconds to brake suddenly and avoid the driver in front of him on the A9 where he was caught tailgating, and he would have needed four times longer to stop.
Meanwhile, among this week’s serious road accidents in Switzerland was a head-on crash in St Gallen that sent a woman in her sixties to hospital. A 24-year-old Englishman was driving on the left side of the road, probably out of habit, according to local police, and he crashed into the woman’s car.
Via Sicura’s improved road safety plan
The new Via Sicura plan, under study for several months, was presented Wednesday by the Federal Council to parliament, where it already has strong support.
TSR reports that restrictions introduced in recent years, including lowering the alcohol level that is tolerated, initially met resistance, but that the reduction in accidents has been widely accepted by the Swiss as proof that safety measures are effective.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Federal Road Office (Fedro) is proposing a series of steps to cut down the number of accidents each year. More than 20,000 accidents on Swiss roads cause almost 400 deaths every year and many more serious injuries.
Government’s safer roads proposals consultation ends in March
The package of proposals, called Via Sicura , is winding its way through the mandatory Swiss political consultation process. The 60-odd proposals include improving road infrastructure, changing laws and toughening procedures. Among measures being considered:
