The central theme of this contribution is the new direction which the government of The Netherlands has recently taken concerning its approach to road safety. This comes down to achieving a sustainable safe road traffic system in rural as well as urban districts. The most essential, but not the only, pillar in this approach is the bringing about of a sustainable safe road infrastructure. Chapter 2 gives an analytical description of the size, nature, and development of road safety in The Netherlands during recent years. Chapter 3 gives an impression of the organisation and coordination of a road safety policy. Chapter 4 places the developments within the urban infrastructures in an historical perspective. Chapter 5 describes a number of recent and larger-scale evaluation studies. Chapter 6 concludes this contribution with summary conclusions about: 1) the road safety state of affairs and the direction of their development; 2) the police changes necessary and the direction of the new approach; 3) the most important road safety measures and activities together with their estimated effects; and 4) experiences with evaluations and monitoring.
Samenvatting