In 1977 the Dutch government decided to grant governmental contributions to municipalities for conducting experiments within built-up areas, aimed at improving the traffic safety of pedestrians and cyclists. According to this 85% of the total costs involved in the implementation of experimental countermeasures will be provided by the government. A condition of this grant was that a before and after study should be carried out in order to reveal the effects of the countermeasures. Some limitations regarding the means and indications for trends of the countermeasures are made. The countermeasures have to modify in the first place the infrastructure of an area. These countermeasures have to be effected within the residential areas, but an exception is made for school routes and school surroundings outside residential areas. Finally the countermeasures must be relatively simple as regards the volume, the cost and the area the countermeasure is to be implemented in. By way of examples two locations are presented in more detail; a village - erf not having the official status of a woonerf, and a typical residential street.
Abstract