In Belgium the analysis of road safety is in most cases based on accident data. As we know from several researches, this data is not always useful because of the small numbers, even though Belgium has two times more accidents per inhabitant then The Netherlands, and the fact that the data does not always provide enough information to understand the causes of the accidents. In Belgium, there is a growing need to get a better understanding of elements that have impact on the road safety. One of the main questions in the current road safety research is how we can reduce the immense amount of road accidents. In order of the Flemish government the Transportation Research Institute carried out a study about the usefulness of the traffic conflict technique in assessing traffic (un)safety. The research had two goals. We wanted to know into what extend traffic conflict techniques can be used in Belgium to assess the road safety and to define measures that can improve the situation. A second point of interest is how the technique can contribute into a more profound, scientific, understanding of aspects that have an influence on road (un)safety in Flanders. In this paper, the first point of interest will be worked out. The first phase of the study consisted of a state of the art research. Various countries and research institutes use Traffic Conflict Techniques to assess road safety. Moreover there are a lot of researches that build on indicators like the time-to-collision (TTC) or the optimal-breaking-time (OTB) in order to develop better (or more practical) indicators for road safety. Based on this state of the art of the traffic we decided to carry out a pilot project on two locations with the use of the Swedish Traffic Conflict Method in combination with the PET for special situations. After a one week training in Sweden we went ourselves to the pilot locations to make observations. In order to be able to make a profound analysis, we also used video to record data. Moreover we used additional techniques to measure the speed of the traffic. Comparison of our results with analyses and plans that have been designed for the same locations showed that the traffic conflict technique can be very useful to get a better understanding of a situation, especially regarding how the different road users act and interact in relation to the design of the location. Based on our research we can conclude that the technique has perspectives for future use and development. Discussions with the police and officers responsible for school environments show that there is interest in a tool that not only gives data, but also provides an understanding of the situation. Especially in participative processes and discussion with a lot of stakeholders there is a need for a tool that is able to assess the safety of a situation and that can give insight in the background of the observed level of safety. Particularly the ‘extra’ information that is gathered during the observations has a big potential for further exploration. By using image analysis techniques, the video images can provide additional information that can be used to learn more about for example the amount of traffic (including pedestrians) and their speed or the most important patterns in relation to the road safety level. (Author/publisher) This publication may be accessed by Internet users at: http://www.ictct.org/workshop.php?workshop_nr=25
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