The Deutscher Verkehrsgerichtstag, an annual conference on German traffic law, which was held in Goslar in January 2015, focused on road safety issues more than ever before this year. In a total of four work groups, delegates worked on recommendations as to how to resolve current problems. In the process, it also became clear just how topical the UDV‘s research results are and the extent to which they shape debate on the issues. The discussion of alcohol limits for cyclists would simply not have been possible without the study carried out for the UDV by the University of Düsseldorf. Even before the conference started, based on the results of this study we suggested that a 1.1 permille limit should be enshrined in the road traffic act (StVG), which was the key demand made by the working groups. In the working group examining the risks on roads outside built-up areas, the UDV was able to make a valuable contribution to the discussions by providing the results of recent studies on motorcycle accidents, for example. The efforts described in this report to improve the training of the members of accident commissions are also relevant here. After all, the set budgets demanded in Goslar will not become a reality unless the accident commissions can be expected to work effectively. The report also describes the results of these studies and our contribution to the working group on the distraction of drivers. The picture is completed by the discussions of driverless vehicles, to which the UDV is turning its critical eye in order to make a positive contribution. The President of the German Insurance Association (GDV), Dr Alexander Erdland, gave our views on the subject in his opening address in Goslar: We are wholeheartedly in our support of this development, just as long as it is understood that no technology can be approved if its performance is worse than that of human drivers. We are currently carrying out research in this field, but we do not expect to have any results before 2016. There is, of course, also plenty of discussion of road safety issues elsewhere, not just in Goslar, and we have made our contribution to this and hopefully also toward further improvements in road safety. The results of our research into the protection offered by bicycle helmets are worthy of particular mention here. We based our research on sophisticated simulations and were able to demonstrate that head injuries sustained by cyclists wearing a helmet are almost invariably significantly less severe than those of cyclists not wearing a helmet. That ties in well with the declared intention of the German government to significantly increase the number of cyclists wearing helmets. Insurers have promised to give this their full support. An issue that arouses passions and is bound to be with us for many years to come is senior citizens‘ fitness to drive. Every spectacular accident involving them unleashes a new debate in Germany as to whether mandatory testing of senior citizens should be introduced. However, we carried out a study recently that clearly refutes the claim that this is effective in other countries. One of the biggest problems is finding out how to reliably identify people who really represent a threat to road safety. If we can‘t identify these people 100 percent correctly, then the test we are using is no longer acceptable. And none of the methods investigated are anywhere near this level. This study is also very topical, to the extent that it formed the scientific basis for the discussion involving the transportation policy spokespeople of the parties in the German parliament at the parliamentary evening of the German Road Safety Council (DVR) and the road safety organization Deutsche Verkehrswacht (DVW) in February 2015. But what would scientific work be without discussion of the results? That‘s why we would like to ask you sincerely to get in touch with us — in person, by post or email or through Facebook and Twitter. In any event, we hope this report provides you with an interesting read and will perhaps encourage you to take further action. (Author/publisher)
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