Since the mid-1970s the annual number of traffic fatalities has shown a decreasing trend. In 2004 there was a sudden sharp decrease in the number of road deaths. The decrease continued in 2005. This report discusses the numbers of casualties in 2006 and tries to find an explanation for the developments that are found. The developments of the numbers of road deaths and in-patients have been examined for different modes of transport and types of conflict, for different groups of individuals, for different types of road, for different regions and road authorities, for different times of the week, and for several combinations of these characteristics. In the first place we investigated if the registered number of casualties for the period 2004-2006 is lower than was to be expected based on the trend over the years 1990-2003. In addition, the year 2006 was examined by comparing the number of registered casualties in that specific year with the average number of casualties in 2004 and 2005.
Abstract