Urban traffic safety strategies in The Netherlands.

Traffic safety problems inside residential areas are outlined with reference to The Netherlands. Accident black spots are rare in residential areas and consequently safety strategies need to be applied across a whole area. Children, elderly people, pedestrians and cyclists are the main casualties of accidents in residential areas. Dense residential areas near to town centres with little space for children to play are considered relatively unsafe compared with modern estates with cul de sac roads. The residential, access and traffic functions of urban areas are discussed. The development of home zones, where traffic is restricted to walking pace and through traffic is not permitted, is described. 4000 home zones have been created with a marked reduction in the number of accidents but because of the cost, these have generally been restricted to small areas. Schemes restricting speed to 30 km/h with traffic restraint in residential districts are also evaluated. These showed an average 22% reduction in injury accidents. Approaches to the traffic safety management of whole towns are described. Studies of mini roundabouts indicated that the number of accidents was reduced by 47-50% and the number of casualties by 71-75% compared with unmodified junctions. It is considered that future attempts to reduce the number of accidents will not result in such large decreases because the more obvious approaches have already been adopted.