Hungary
Hungary is a mid-sized Central European country (93,030 sq km) with a population of just over 10 million (2003). It was considered among the best prepared Central European countries to join the European Union (EU) in 2004.
Hungary is one of the most advanced new EU-accession market economies in Central and Eastern Europe, with the private sector accounting for approximately 75% of GDP. The country has successfully attracted a substantial amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), has a well-developed export sector and has achieved solid economic growth with low unemployment. The average income is USD $15,900 and unemployment is around 7%.
Related documents
Road Safety in HungaryProjects |
Facts
Roads
Travel by road remains the primary mode of transporting goods and the most popular form of individual travel in Hungary. Hungary has 160, 000 km of roads of which 19% are national. Approximately 81,680 km of these are paved (including 468 km of expressways). The entire expressway network, except the ring road around Budapest and other short bypass stretches, is regulated by toll. The EU has made extensive funds available to upgrade the quality of the pan-European corridors, but these roads make-up only a small fraction of the total road network in Hungary.
Vehicle fleet
The vehicle fleet in Hungary has grown to 3.14 million (from 2.5 million a decade ago), 83% of which are passenger cars. The car fleet is considered relatively modern in comparison to many other Central European countries (the average age of the cars in the register is 11.7 years). The heavy goods vehicle fleet used in international transport must meet much higher standards than those transporting goods domestically. Tachographs are mandatory in vehicles over 3.5t.
Road safety situation
The relative political and economic stability and the opportune geographical location of the country have led to a rapid growth in motorisation, international transit transport, and traffic volume. These combined with factors such as the relatively poor condition of the roads and road signs have resulted in a worsening of the road safety situation. While the Hungarian government was swift in acting to reverse this trend in the early 1990s by establishing the Interministerial Committee on Road Safety and implementing a national road safety strategy, the situation has recently begun to worsen. Enforcement of traffic laws by the police has been strengthened, however, an important problem persists: the general absence of awareness among the public of the road safety risk.
The government led efforts of the early 1990s have slowed and the original road safety plan, introduced in 1993, ended as planned in 2000. At the same time, the number of crashes and injuries has begun to rise. In 2005, there were 128 deaths per 1 million population, (EU25 average: 103), or 444 persons killed per 1 million passenger cars (EU25 average: 220).
Many of the priority areas set out in the original plan remain important in continuing efforts to improve road safety in Hungary. These include:
- reducing the speed limit in built-up areas to 50/km;
- significantly increasing the enforcement of traffic laws, especially in regards to speeding and drinking and driving;
- launching large-scale traffic safety information and publicity campaigns on key issues; establish a detailed expenditure plan for road safety;
- establishing a financing plan with sustainable funding for road safety targets of the plan.
The plan also aimed at a 25 % reduction in fatalities and severe injuries by 2000 (this goal was actually achieved by the mid 90’s, but the situation has again worsened).
In the current transport policy, the Hungarian authorities’ objective is to reduce the number of crash victims on Hungary’s roads as follows:
- From 2001 to 2010 Personal injury and road deaths by 30%
- From 2010 to 2015 Personal injury and road deaths by 50%
The Ministry of Economy and Transport has launched a ten point road safety plan beginning in 20 , based on the current road safety programme of the European Union.
Road safety coordination
The Ministries of Economy and Transport and the Ministry of Interior are the lead government agencies responsible for road safety. The State Secretaries of Transport and Interior co-chair the Interministerial Committee (IMC) on Road Safety and share leadership responsibilities with the police in the National Accident Prevention Committee (OBB.) A small Road Safety Department in the Ministry of Economy and Transport supports the IMC with administrative tasks.
Until May 2005, there was only one civil society organisation (NGO) focused specifically on road safety, the Hungarian Traffic Safety Association. There are a number of transport, health and academic oriented groups working on road safety issues. GRSP Hungary was officially established on 3 May 2005 with 16 founding members. It was officially registered on 4 August 2005 as an independent Association under Hungarian law.
There are also numerous interest groups such as the Bicycle Association and Motorcycle Association, which represent the interest of their members in the OBB. The organisations working within the local road safety councils (MBBs) are diverse and differ from county to county. Most are active on the local level and a few are included in the membership of the OBB and MBBs. They include the Hungarian Automobile Club, the Hungarian Red Cross, research institutes (especially KTI), individual insurance companies, GRSP Hungary and GRSP partners in Hungary.
GRSP in Hungary
Background if GRSP in Hungary
GRSP has been working closely with road safety stakeholders in Hungary since 2000. In part as a response to Hungary’s 2004 accession to the European Union and equally in an effort to increase local ownership of GRSP in Hungary, partners founded “GRSP Hungary Association” as a public benefit organisation under Hungarian law in 2005. Founding members reflect the diversity of the road safety actors in Hungary including private sector companies, government entities, non-governmental organisations, as well as and research institutes.
The new road safety plan launched by the Ministry of Economy in 2006 guides the activities of the GRSP Hungary Association. GRSP Hungary partners have agreed on a number of specific objectives to support the government’s road safety improvement goals. These include: promoting national consensus and co-operation in the field of road transport; supporting the objective of the European Transport Policy of “halving the number of road fatalities by 2010”; establishing effective co-operation among governmental, civil and the private (business) sectors and to participate in common projects aiming to improve road safety.
Organisation of the GRSP Hungary Association
Partners represent diverse sectors and areas of road safety and are dedicated to working closely together to improve road safety in Hungary. A board was elected by the 1st General Assembly of the Association on 3 May 2005 (President: Mr. Gábor Szeitl, Shell Hungary Rt.; Secretary General: Dr. Agnes Lindenbach, Inter-út XXI. Ltd.; Deputy Presidents: Dr. Péter Lányi, Ministry of Economy and Transport, and Mr. István Tóth Hungarian Automobil Club; three additional board-members are representing the wide scale of the different partner-organisations).
The primary goals and activities of the Association include:
- To promote national consensus and co-operation in the field of road transport in order to improve road safety, supporting the ambitious objective of the European Transport Policy: "halving the number of road fatalities by 2010".
- To establish effective co-operation among governmental, civil society and private (business) sectors, to participate in common projects aiming to improve road safety.
- To maintain international co-operation with the GRSP Steering Committee and other European GRSP organisations in order to promote the national activities for the adaptation of "best practices".
- The National Road Safety Strategy will serve as basis for activities
- To establish relations with relevant ministries (Ministry of Economy and Transport, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education) as well as with professional organisations, which are working with these ministries, with special regard to the Accident Prevention Committee of the Hungarian National Police and local police authorities, as well as to the transport authorities.
- To explore possibilities for including road safety as a dedicated subject in the Hungarian system of higher education.
Specific needs and GRSP partnership projects
Activities of GRSP Hungary in 2005
GRSP Hungary Association works mainly within the framewok of developing and implementing common projects. In 2005, GRSP Hungary Association carried out two projects: “Continuation of the safety belt campaign” (“tomato” campaign) as a major project and the “Driving training/education for the drivers of ambulances” as a minor project.
Projects
Road Systems Management
Driving training/education for the drivers of ambulances
The “Driving training/education for the drivers of ambulances” initiative aims to train ambulance drivers on how to avoid crashes and cope with dangerous situations on the road. In 2005, 104 participants from ten counties participated in the courses, thirteen of which were held at the “driving style park” of the Hungarian Automobile Club.
Responses from participants indicate they found the training to be very useful. As a result, GRSP Hungary has worked to scale-up the programme so that it can be provided on a national basis allowing all ambulance drivers to be trained.
The 2006 ambulance driver retraining initiative built on activities undertaken in 2005 and was greeted with high expectations. Through the initiative ambulance drivers are trained in crash and road hazard avoidance. Some 120 ambulance drivers participated in the training programme in 2006, 20 of whom were sponsored by the GRSP Hungary Association.
Safer Roads Users
Safety belt campaign (”Tomato” campaign)
The aim of the “tomato campaign” is to convince car drivers and their passengers to buckle-up. The project was initiated on World Health Day 2004 and included intense information, education and enforcement campaigns.
In 2005 partners implemented a reinforcement campaign. One of the more visible elements of the project was the placement of a huge 500 m2 “window graphic” on the building of the Ministry of Economy and Transport (Margit Boulevard in Budapest) beginning in November 2005. This graphic was presented a media award in early 2006. Additional elements of the campaign in 2005 included: Police enforcement controls were carried out nationwide on the wearing of safely belts and the use of child restraint devices; a quiz was organised during the programme Rush hour traffic (Csúcsforgalom) on Petőfi Radio offering valuable prizes; “safety belt leaflets” on the importance of buckling up were distributed to secondary school students through JAM foundation,– popularizing the use of safety belt.
The seat belt campaign was scaled up in 2006 and served as the primary initiative of the GRSP Association. In 2006 GRSP Hungary Association introduced a new main image depicting the seat belt as a pillow, cushioning the vehicle occupant from experiencing the full magnitude of the crash impact.
The new campaign was launched in September 2006. Large posters were placed at roadsides, and campaign messages and images appear on vehicles and in newspapers. The campaign messages can be seen in Budapest on trams (on important tram-lines: 47, 49, 1/A and 3), and in rural areas (Békéscsaba, Győr, Miskolc, Pécs, Tatabánya) on coaches. Vehicle advertisements were displayed for a period of one month in five large cities and in smaller cities they appeared on busses for three months. At the beginning of October 2006, 50 large posters and 36 midilights (large posters with internal lightning) were placed at various roadside locations in Budapest and other big cities in Hungary, including Pécs and Székesfehérvár. Additional posters were displayed throughout Hungary in January 2007 and will remain for several months.
Project summary: Hungary seatbelt, Hungary
”Party Driver”
GRSP Hungary is cooperating with its member the HAFRAC (Hungarian Association for Responsible Alcohol Consumption) on an initiative to prevent drinking and driving. The “Party Driver” aims to encourage young people at a party to name a “designated driver” who doesn’t drink alcohol that night and who can drive the others home safely. GRSP Hungary supported the 2006 programme by lending its logo to the initiative and in 2007 the Association is also providing financial support.
Dissemination
Dissemination activities
2006 - GRSP Hungary Association distributed information and materials about road safety and its activities at the conference and exhibition “On safe roads into the XXI. century” organised on 25-27 October 2006 in Budapest. The exhibition offered an excellent opportunity to present the goals, achievements, current activities and future plans of the GRSP Hungary Association for many road safety experts from Hungary as well as from other countries.
GRSP Hungary produces a regular “GRSP Newsletter” giving an overview about current activities and maintains a website in the Hungarian language.