Abstract
The chances for a road accident are relatively small for the individual road user. The road accident problem is primarily a social problem. Scientific thinking in the road safety problem is wanted because: 1) absolute safety is unattainable. The acceptability of a risk margin must be established; 2) accidents seldom arise from the normal road behaviour. Therefore the normal road behaviour must be determined and understood; 3) simple cause-consequence relations seldom are applicable in road traffic. A multivariate analysis must be applied.