Paul Hammelmann retires

‘Sécurité Routière has been around for 65 years. After 45 years, it’s time to pass on the torch,’ said Paul Hammelmann, President of “Sécurité Routière”. ‘My successor will be younger than me. Although there are already some ideas, it is still too early to talk about his identity. I have some ideas, but ultimately the Board of Directors will make this decision,’ he said, taking the wind out of the sails of speculation about the profile of his successor.

Introduction of the concept of ‘endangering the lives of others’

Until then, Paul Hammelmann intends to continue to advocate the principle of ‘Vision Zero’, which aims for zero deaths and serious injuries on the roads, with road infrastructure being of the utmost importance. This must be adapted to human needs and not the other way round.

Specifically, Paul Hammelmann will continue to focus on two important issues: the concept of endangering the lives of others and speed reduction in built-up areas.

‘The concept of endangering life must be applied to those who overdo it and drive at 120 km/h in built-up areas while children are playing there, or to those who take part in illegal races. At present, the police can only impose fines for exhaust systems that do not comply with regulations or tyres that are too worn. They cannot intervene further as long as there are no serious consequences such as deaths or injuries. We are therefore in favour of adapting the law to create a preventive penalty, particularly for speed. This is already the case in several countries, including France,’ he explained.

A bill along these lines had already been tabled in parliament during the last legislative period, but was rejected due to ‘legal uncertainty’. ‘We are calling for this bill to be tabled again and dealt with openly. And if there is still legal uncertainty, which I can understand, we can still rely on French case law,’ added Paul Hammelmann.

30 km/h in urban centres

The second topic that the President of ‘Sécurité Routière’ is concerned with is the reduction of speed in built-up areas. He is in favour of making 30 km/h the rule and 50 km/h the exception.

‘Today, in several major European cities such as Brussels and Paris, 30 km/h is already the norm, while 50 km/h only applies on certain roads. The ‘Sécurité Routière’ believes that a general introduction of this principle in all urban areas in Luxembourg would better protect vulnerable road users and facilitate compliance with speed limits,’ he emphasised.

‘According to the Belgian Vias Institute, a car needs 13 metres to stop at 30 km/h and 27 metres at 50 km/h. The chance of a pedestrian surviving a car travelling at 30 km/h is 95%, at 50 km/h it drops to 53%,’ he explained. Paul Hammelmann concluded: ‘If everyone always obeyed the traffic rules, there would be no fatalities or injuries. The Vision Zero principle is not a utopia’.

As a reminder, according to the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, 26 people died in road accidents in 2023 and 347 people were seriously injured.

After the summer break, the Directorate of ‘Sécurité Routière’ will participate in working groups with various ministries to try to reduce the number of victims on the country’s roads.

By Jérémy Zabatta