Road safety in the province of Zeeland, and especially in the region known as West Zeeland Flanders (WZV), is poorer in several respects than in other places in the Netherlands. The regional authorities selected the WZV area as the site for introducing a sustainably safe traffic system. The Ministry of Transport and Public Works then designated this area as the site for a demonstration project. Among other things, this means that a monitoring system will be used for meticulously following the developments within this geographic area. The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research has developed this system and compiled various strategies for carrying it out. One element of this monitoring is the testing of measures in the area of road infrastructure against the design principles for sustainably safe road networks. The strategy proposed for this testing was then worked out in more detail to create a design for the testing. The actual testing may possibly take place within follow-up projects. This testing must answer three questions: (1) Does the design of the road network in WZV conform to the design principles for sustainably safe road networks; (2) Does the behaviour of road users change as a result of applying the design principles for sustainably safe road networks; and (3) does behaviour change in accordance with the line of reasoning relating to the design and use of principles for sustainably safe road networks? Since no ready-made research method and techniques exist for the actual testing done to find answers to these questions, this report presents a detailed description of the design. This design consists of three parts: 'functionality', 'homogeneity' and 'predictability'. Functionality involves the road network's intended use. The authors will test this beforehand with models calculated to show the effects of the various traffic measures on selected traffic routes, and afterward with counts, surveys and measurements that will establish the actual situation. Homogeneity involves the circumstances, such as differences in speed and dimensions, under which the various types of traffic (pedestrian, vehicular, bicycles, etc.) are combined. Testing this occurs beforehand by evaluating the planned rules and possibilities for behaviour, and afterward by perceiving the actual traffic situations. Predictability will be established by means of field, simulator, video and photo studies, each of which will establish different combinations of five different aspects of behaviour. These aspects of behaviour are: identifying road types and situations, identifying limitations in one's own behaviour, predicting situations and behaviour, controlling of encounters/limited effort, and limited variation in behaviour/agreement with desired behaviour. All activities for testing will be focused on an itinerary in WZV which includes all types of sustainably safe roads. (A)
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