For many years now, the tackling of so-called accident blackspots has been regarded as an effective approach to dealing with the problem of road safety. Therefore, an instruction manual called 'Approach to road accident concentrations' was published in 1979. This manual was updated in 1992-93 with as title: 'Guidelines to the approach of dangerous situations'. In the early 1990's, a new road safety approach was introduced; it was called 'sustainably safe'. It has a more preventative character than the 'dangerous situations' approach, which was mainly curative. The 'dangerous situations' approach also did not have any clear indications of its effectiveness. This is why it seems that this approach has slowly disappeared, to be replaced by the new 'sustainably safe' approach. This study used a written questionnaire, which asked road authorities how they tackled 'dangerous situations' in practice nowadays, and the part played by the 'Guidelines to the approach of dangerous situations'. It was also asked how many road authorities planned to continue applying the 'dangerous situations' approach in the future, and whether there was a need to update the Guidelines. In the study, a number of recommendations are made for updating the Guidelines. These are aimed at reducing the amount of work needed to use the 'dangerous situations' approach and, at the same time, at increasing its effectiveness.
Samenvatting