Free market economies have shown the dominating utility of motorized transport, both for passenger and goods transport. One negative side of motorization is the lack of road safety. Although it is shown that air, water and rail transport are much safer, the individual and company utility of motorized road transport is so high that in free market economies transport by car has become the major mode of transport for goods as well as for persons. Nonetheless the safety importance of a transport mix which includes public transport for persons and rail or ship transport for freight must be recognized. Countries are on different development levels in motorization and road safety. It is argued that growth of motorization is accompanied by enlarged and improved road infrastructure, more experienced drivers and improved traffic regulations. Consequently the risk of fatalities in road traffic decreases the more mobility grows. If the relative increase of growth is larger than the decrease of the risk, the number of road fatalities is increasing, while the reverse also holds. The former now holds for Central and East European countries, the latter for the USA and North-West Europe. A national road safety policy must be directed towards a high annual reduction of risk per distance travelled. This only can be achieved together with a growing kilometrage if the road infrastructure is improved and traffic becomes redistributed over roads with lower risk levels. Influencing the driver by improved driver training and safety campaigns is a prerequisite, but contrary to the general belief they have not shown to be very effective safety measures on its own. However, police enforcement with a certain intensity level on drunken driving and violations of speed limits (at least one annual control out of three license holders) can be very effective. A national plan which activates national, regional and local authorities for effective road safety can not only reduce the immense loss of human lives and the sorrow over them, but also save the waste of the huge costs involved. In the European Community the costs of the lack of road safety is about 70 billion ECU. Investments in road safety, therefore, pays off more than one usually is assumed.
Abstract