At the request of the Netherlands Transport Inspectorate (Inspectie Verkeer en Waterstaat, IVW), KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM) performed a study to develop an instrument to predict the risk of accidents for companies in transport and to identify the impact inspections have on road transport safety. The Netherlands Transport Inspectorate (IVW) is responsible for the enforcement of laws and regulations that require the compliance of transport companies to enhance safety and sustainability. A Company Safety Indicator was developed, combining information on accidents, compliance and the policies of transport companies. This instrument was tested to predict the risk of accidents involving transport companies. It appeared that the use of this Company Safety Indicator would have resulted in a reduction of accidents. The impact that road-side and company inspections of trucks and taxis had on accidents in the period 2000 to 2004 was identified using a pretest-posttest control group design. It appeared that compliance reviews of companies and road-side inspections resulted in a decrease in traffic accidents. In a subsequent phase, studies were conducted to determine if these instruments could be used in other fields of transport inspection in the Netherlands, to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of transport inspections. These studies suggested that the instruments could also be used to monitor bus transport and transport by sea-going ships. For air transport activities, such monitoring seems to be limited to intermediate outcomes, such as compliance. (Author/publisher)
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