In October 2013, the BRSI developed the first national measurement of the behaviour of van drivers in relation to speed. This measurement was intended to fill the gaps in objective information on the subject, while vans, in fact, represent an increasing share of transport modes in Belgian traffic. Different findings in accident statistics suggest that the speed of vans could be a point of focus for road safety. An innovative data collection method has been put in place compared to the previous behavioural measurements of the BRSI. The investigators visited 257 places on the Belgian road network to measure the speed of vans by means of SpeedLasers. Measurements were carried out from the side of the road or from bridges above motorways. The locations were chosen so as to obtain representative indicators for 7 different road types in Belgium and regionally. The investigators measured the speed of two types of vans: "light" vans (vehicles with a wheelbase similar to that of cars, but in a "utility" configuration) and "conventional" vans (other vehicles of less than 3.5 t used to transport goods). Cars travelling on the same roads were also measured in order to make up a control group as a basis for comparison. The investigators also took note of whether or not the vehicles were travelling at free speed (speed not restricted by a vehicle ahead of the measured vehicle). (Author/publisher)
Abstract