This chapter first reviews road safety levels for several highly motorised countries, then focuses on some road safety problems and approaches to improving road safety. The data provided were drawn from the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD). International comparisons of road safety should be based on fatality statistics. Traffic safety levels in European OECD countries and in Eastern European countries are analysed. In European OECD countries, the mean risk of fatal injury in a traffic accident has steadily decreased since the early 1970s, even though vehicle ownership and use have been rising over the same period. In Eastern Europe, this risk increased sharply in East Germany and Hungary during the late 1980s, before starting to decrease again, because of large increases in travel and vehicle ownership. Some crucial areas of road safety in these countries are identified; young people, pedestrians, and cyclists are especially at risk. Definitions and under-reporting of accidents and injuries are discussed briefly. The following aspects of improving road safety are considered: (1) two approaches to assessing the potential of accident prevention; (2) the realisation of preventive measures; and (3) examples of future measures for improving road safety, including improvements to cars.
Abstract