It has become uncertain whether the following policy goals will be reached in The Netherlands: (1) 25% fewer road deaths and injured in the year 2000, compared with the 1985 figures; and (2) 50% fewer fatalities and 40% fewer injured in the year 2010, compared with 1986. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify the efforts in the road safety field. This discussion note offers a number of policy recommendations considering what can be done in relation to road safety in The Netherlands and how. Concerning the design of the fourth Long Term Programme for Road Safety (MPV-IV) to be issued in 1996, a strategy should be adopted consisting of three parts. Firstly, a number of effective measures should be taken measures should be taken in the short term, focusing particularly on the already formulated spearheads of policy set for the year 2000. Secondly, it should be ensured that road safety conditions are explicitly included and weighed at national, regional and local levels of the decision-making process affecting road safety, particularly in the policy field concerning mobility and the infrastructure. Thirdly, the results and success of implementation of the first two recommendations should be utilised to realise a 'sustainably safe' road traffic system, step by step, over a longer period. In the short term, strengthening police enforcement supported by large-scale information campaigns appears to be the most effective approach to improving road safety.
Abstract