This paper analyses the accident rate in the Dutch municipality of Nijmegen in comparison with that of a reference area consisting of the following Dutch cities: The Hague, Eindhoven, Geleen, Haarlem, Heerlen, Leyden, Schiedam and Utrecht. The results of this study show that Nijmegen can be considered as a relatively safe municipality, in spite of the annual number of more than 400 traffic victims in this city. This can be explained by the finding that in the 1989-1991 period, the number of traffic victims per 1000 inhabitants of Nijmegen were considerably less than in the reference area. However, a decrease in the annual number of victims in Nijmegen has not taken place. The main problem concerning the lack of traffic safety in Nijmegen concentrates within its built-up areas. The accidents mainly occurred on the main road network. A high number of victims were found among both 18-24 year old car drivers, and 16 and 17 year old moped riders. The starting point in the design for a future traffic safety policy in Nijmegen is the concept of a "sustainably safe road traffic". This can be reached by taking measures to attune both the road infrastructure and legislation to the characteristics of road users better than now.
Samenvatting