Everywhere in the world people are trying to improve road safety. In road safety literature, however, there are many indications that road safety improvements are moving slowly. Several causes are given for this: firstly, the political priority is relatively low; secondly that it is not well-known how, exactly, road safety should and could be improved. Sometimes there is considerable debate about policy instruments and possible countermeasures. It is important to realise that road safety problems have been solved by investing in the quality of the road network system. In theory there are many policy instruments available, measures imaginable, and also practically applicable. Road accidents cause too many unnecessary casualties. While world statistics indicate the importance of this problem, this has not resulted in road safety being given a high social and political priority. Road safety measures are quite often controversial: because the positive results are doubted, because reservations are made about the claimed efficiency, because other public goals (e.g. environmental protection) or private interests are involved, and because the price for greater safety is considered too high. It is understandable that road safety professionals from different countries wish to learn from each other. This is particularly so given the fact that road safety is a problem that, to a large extent, is avoidable. On the one hand it is so difficult to attract the necessary attention for it, and on the other hand it is not precisely clear which measures are optimal. The central question in this report is whether and how countries can learn from each other how to improve road safety. This question relates to road safety policy in general, as well as the choice of (counter)measures to be taken. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118727.
Samenvatting