The ceremony was opened by Mr. Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of transport, who complimented everyone involved in the European Road Safety Charter for their efforts, dedication and contribution in improving safety on European roads. Mrs Isabelle Kardacz, Head of the Road Safety Unit, DG TREN, and Mrs Maria Teresa Sanz-Villegas, European Commission Project Officer, also participated in the event.

Mr Tajani emphasized the fact that road safety is everyone’s responsibility and therefore the collaboration of different types of entities will be of the utter importance in reducing the number of road fatalities on a local, national and European level.

The Vice-President presented the Awards and explained that the Awardees had been elected for the relevancy of their actions according to the organisation’s activities and aims, the impact and visibility of the action plan and the originality and presentation of the commitment.

In the formal and impressive atmosphere of the European Commission’s press conference room, the ceremony was warm and emotional: the winners showed their pleasure to see their activities rewarded and the Vice President announced the conference to be its last one in the frame of the DG TREN.

 

The Excellence in Road Safety Awards 2009 winners in 6 different categories are:

Large companies and multinationals: EKO Bulgaria, Bulgaria – EKO Fuel Stations (76 operating in Bulgaria) are owned by EKO Bulgaria Ead. With their “Call when you get there!” program, they aim to stimulate the reasonable and tolerant behaviour on the road with emphasis on the personal responsibility of each driver.

 

Small and medium sized companies: Transportes Bizarro Duarte, Lda, Portugal - The main activity of the company Transportes Bizarro Duarte Lda. is the carriage of goods by road for hire or reward operating throughout Europe. Its commitment focuses on the rational driving training for all its drivers and awareness activities to improve their behaviour and attitudes.

 

Federations/Associations: Zrzeszenie Międzynarodowych Przewoźników Drogowych (The International Road Carriers Association – ZMPD), Poland - ZMPD is the biggest Polish association in the line of road transport with 4,000 carriers. For its contribution towards the activities of the European Road Safety Charter, the ZMPD is committed to carrying out information campaigns and trainings for members aimed at improving skills of truck drivers.

Institutions: Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, United Kingdom - Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency fire and rescue cover to the largest land locked County in England. They are committed to improve the road safety in their area by launching informative campaigns and educating road users including youth, bikers and cyclists.

NGOs: Pražské matky (Prague Mothers), Czech Republic - Prague Mothers is a civic association with three members who work on improving the environment, rising awareness and obtaining more involvement from civil society’s and a more responsible approach from citizens and public authorities. Throughout the project “Safe Ways to School”, they will set up activities leading to an increase of road safety within the most vulnerable users - children.

Regions and cities: Linköpings kommun (Linköping Municipality), Sweden - Linköpings Municipality is responsible for the street network in the city of Linköping and in towns and villages in the area. They have focused their commitment on the informative campaigns and infrastructure changes that include rebuilding of crossings and extending the share of bicycle paths.