Introduction
The homepage of Denmark`s Road Safety and Transport Agency is primarily in Danish, but on this part of the site the agency will publish relevant documents in English.
Road Safety and Transport Agency
Denmark’s Road Safety and Transport Agency is an independent administrative body within the Danish Ministry of Transport.
The agency was established in 1994 and today employs approximately 90 people in the centre of Copenhagen.
The agency’s areas of responsibility are principally:
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to enforce Danish legislation regarding commercial transport.
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to promote environmentally-friendly road transport
The agency formulates and enacts regulations and administrative guidelines within these areas. Furthermore the agency helps prepare new legislation and write draft replies on constitutional matters effecting Denmark’s road safety. It also answers questions passed to Denmark’s Transport Minister from the Danish Parliament and ordinary citizens.
Commercial transport
The Road Safety and Transport Agency enforces Danish legislation regarding commercial transport. This work involves issuing licences for the transport of cargo by road and carriage of passengers by bus.
For the transport of cargo, the agency ensures that the rules regarding periods of resting and driving are followed. The agency is also responsible for enforcing Danish government legislation regarding the transport of lethal cargo.
Furthermore the agency helps draft legislation that deals with taxi cab companies, although the daily enforcement of this legislation is not its responsibility. The agency also accredits training courses for taxi drivers and answers questions from citizens, local authorities and taxi drivers about government legislation in this area.
Environmentally-friendly road transport
The Road Safety and Transport Agency is responsible for developing new technology that achieves reduced fuel consumption in vehicles. In order to do this the agency carries out different projects. One project that the agency recently has initiated is a large scale test of particle filters in co-operation with the municipality of Odense. The first objective of the project is to put up a large number of filters so that environmental data can be obtained. The second objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the monitoring technology.
Once a year the agency issues a publication that examines how much petrol different types of vehicles use per kilometre. In April 2000 the agency introduced an energy label that also shows the amount of petrol that various vehicles use per kilometre. By law the energy label must be placed on any car for sale in shops in Denmark. The intention is to develop people’s awareness about environmentally-friendly vehicles.
In 2009 the Road Safety and Transport Agency was given funds to start a new centre within the organization. The Centre for Green Transport will focus on a number of initiatives that can help reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector, including energy requirements for taxis, energy labelling of vans and optimisation of aerodynamics for trucks. The new centre will also implement test projects with energy efficient transport solutions on a large scale in collaboration with businesses and municipalities.
Vehicle inspection
The Road Safety and Transport Agency is also responsible for approval of independent vehicle inspection bodies.
Since September 2004 approval for re-inspection only was possible for private companies, and since January 2005 also vehicle inspection in general was privatized. Private companies without any relation to vehicle repair business can apply for approval as an inspection body. In the beginning of 2006 more than 75 private inspection companies and more than 175 re-inspection companies are approved.
Inspection- and re-inspection bodies are supervised by inspectors from The Road Safety and Transport Agency and by control bodies approved by the agency. Supervision is performed as administrative as well as practical tests of the performance of the companies.
Education of the staff of new independent (re-)inspection bodies is also supervised by the agency.
Principle approval scheme for particulate filters
Publications
Contact information