The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research investigated: (a) the problems occurring on Dutch municipal roads that involve heavy goods vehicles; and (b) what measures can be taken to correct these problems. A survey was conducted among 24 municipalities to accomplish this study. According to the Regional Committees for Road Safety, twelve of these municipalities experienced (or are experiencing) problems with heavy goods vehicles. The remaining twelve municipalities were selected from the Statistics Netherlands' file of Dutch municipalities by means of a stratified sample. `Obvious' problems mentioned by the municipalities were: (1) heavy goods vehicles within, and travelling through, the town centre; (2) heavy goods vehicles on major roads inside built-up areas; and (3) inconveniences caused by these vehicles. It is described which measures have already been taken and which ones are being prepared. Only two measures were mentioned by more than half of the municipalities: (i) concentrating business within industrial sites; and (ii) instituting entry prohibitions for lorries. It is concluded that definitely more attention should be given to measures concerning heavy goods vehicles. The approach to problems involving these vehicles was based on the principles of the `sustainably safe' concept. Measures recommended for solving these problems were: realising major roads, and creating areas with low vehicle concentrations. (A)
Abstract