According to statistics, close to one in two fatal road accidents in Luxembourg happens during the night from Saturday to Sunday, and they are most often provoked by the dangerous cocktail of alcohol and excessive speed.
In November 2002, ‘Road Safety’ president Paul Hammelmann gave a press conference where he showed obituaries of road victims in an effort to caution drivers. Since then, mentality has indeed changed a little, but there remains room for improvement, believe officials.
The dangers of alcohol and excessive speed, which have long persisted behind the wheel, have in recent years been joined by the threat of smartphone usage.
Awareness thus needs to be raised in continuous manner, explained Isabelle Medinger, director of the Road Safety organisation: “We were pioneers when we started out. Back then, the point-system had not yet been established for driving licenses, and the maximum alcohol levels were at 0.8. By the time legislation caught up with preventive efforts, we had already established our respective campaigns.”
The first campaigns launched by the organisation were addressed at 18-year-old drivers. Gradually, the campaigns were adjusted to also raise awareness among future drivers aged 16.
Medinger also drew attention to the fact that with the disappearance of Covid measures and the return of normal life, the frequency of road accidents may increase once again: “It feels like we had a two-year break. Of course people were still drinking, but they did so more often at home, which was in a way good for road safety. Our future campaigns thus consider that people will tend to gather outside their homes again.”
