Speed : 10th European Transport Safety Lecture, Bern, Switzerland, 12th October 2008.

When the first car was manufactured in 1891, it was not seen as a means of conveyance that might transport users faster than a horse and cart. Instead, it was intended to provide additional comfort. The speed at which a motorized vehicle could travel was equal to a person’s walking pace or that of a workhorse. A Swiss law in force at that time stipulated that, for reasons of safety, a person should walk in front of the car carrying a flag to warn people of the dangerous vehicle. That was back in the days when, in France, wild horses caused 106 fatalities in the month of August 1900 alone while automobiles caused the death of2 people (Fondin, 1968). In the meantime, vehicle development has seen increasingly higher speeds while the road traffic system has improved continuously at the same time and -from a relative standpoint —has become safer. Nevertheless, we still have more than 1.2 million annual road accident fatalities worldwide today. This is 3,300 people a day or around 140 an hour! By 2030, this figure is expected to double. Nowadays, excessive speed is one of the four main causes of accidents and near-accidents (alongside alcohol, inattention and aggression; Klauer et al., 2006), with the risk due to “speeding” even being placed slightly ahead of driving under the influence according to Australian studies (Kloeden, 1997). With a few exceptions, this also applies to most European countries (ETSC, 2008). In one in three road accident fatalities, excessive speed is at least a contributory factor. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) therefore consistently encourage and demand campaigns, programmes and measures to counteract this key accident factor. Excessive speed is also in the front line where severe accidents in Switzerland are concerned (Allenbachet al., 2007). Although recent years have seen a decline in the extent to which severe injuries and fatalities attributed to this cause, speeding among young drivers and motorcyclists is a particular problem as it is in most European countries. (Author/publisher)