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Four-year programme 2003-2006

The SWOV Programme 2003-2006 contains proposals that we wish carry out in these four years. The research is divided into two categories:

The Programme also provides an overview of our knowledge management and dissemination activities.

The research activities are divided among two departments:

The knowledge dissemination activities are in the Information and Communication department.

 

The Operational Management department and the Secretariat support all activities.

The complete text (entirely in the Dutch language) of the SWOV Programme 2003-2006 can be found in SWOV report R-2003-18 which can be found under Publications.

 

Starting points

The following starting points form the foundation of the Four-year programme 2003-2006:

 

Planning Office research

SWOV has initiated the Planning Office department to meet the wish of a road safety planning office function. This department carries out explorations of the future and makes road safety balances.

In addition, research activities are carried out that, in time, will contribute to facilitating higher quality balances and explorations. To achieve this we aim at developing better models, making better basic data available, and a greater incorporation of scientific knowledge.

The Planning Office research consists of four projects:

Road Safety analyses

In this project, the road safety developments are described and, if possible, explained. Special attention is paid to the effects of road safety policy. The results of these road safety balances lead to a better understanding of the factors that influence road safety developments. This provides a basis for carrying out road safety explorations.

Forecasts

SWOV will periodically report future road safety developments because we work with quantitative targets, viz. the reduction of the number of casualties in a particular period. An important question in this is how to make valid road safety development prognoses. The purpose of this project is to formulate scientifically founded expectations about the future number of road traffic casualties. These expectations are based on extrapolating the in the past determined and modelled developments and knowledge of future social developments that influence the number of traffic casualties. By doing this, we will be able to make better estimates of intended measures.

Analyses of external influences

To increase road safety it is necessary to anticipate developments important to road safety. This project give such wore a new form. A surroundings exploration is scanning social developments and (intended) policy in areas outside road safety. It is assumed that these can influence road safety developments positively or negatively. This can lead to contact points for future road safety policy. The results of the various surroundings explorations will get their place in the road safety explorations. The areas surrounding road safety are, among others, spatial (Town and Country) development, the economy, and the social-cultural sector.

Data management

The carrying out of much of SWOV's research depends on the availability of high quality data. The obtaining and opening up of such data in the various knowledge and information systems that SWOV has is a continuous activity. By comparing data over a long period, insight into developments and relations is gained. Our own researchers, as well as external professionals, are continuously using these important systems. The emphasis with this project lies in the obtaining and opening up of high quality data for internal research and new knowledge products. The core here is being topical and made to measure for the customer.

Anticipatory research

Anticipatory research has always played an important role in analysing basic road safety problems and arriving at possible solutions. This research also contributes to improving road safety.

 

During the next few years, SWOV will carry out anticipatory research in the following ten subjects:

 

Road safety explorer

SWOV has an important task in supporting policy makers and road authorities when they are making their road safety plans. Especially now that road safety budgets are under pressure, one must have available the best possible effect estimates of measures, their costs, and the, from this, resulting optimal package of measures. During the last period the Regional Road Safety Explorer was developed. This method has already been used once in all 19 regions (Provinces and Framework Act areas) in the Netherlands. In this project, the method will be improved further, and this will then be tested in subsequent studies, to then be made available for use in practice.

 

Infrastructure and road crashes

The road infrastructure is constantly being adapted to the growth in traffic. Although one could assume that more traffic leads to more casualties, their number seems to be decreasing in spite of the increase in vehicle kilometres. This development is attributed to improvements in many elements within the traffic system of human-vehicle-road, and example of the Human Machine Interface (HMI). Based on data in practice, this subject attempts to show a qualitative relation between the road features, traffic features, and road safety.

 

Analysis of the relation between speed, speed variation and crashes

The central point of this subject is one of the core questions of the current road safety problem, i.e. speeding. First of all, we will develop a vision on speed limits that will form the framework of further research of the relation between speed (distribution) and road safety and the credibility of (optimal) speed limits. Then we aim to increase our insight in the relation between speed, speed distribution, and road safety under various Netherlands road and traffic circumstances and in speed choice under various credible speed limits. The research aims here mainly at cars, but if possible, the aim will be extended to other vehicles (e.g. lorries and mopeds). Road sections will be examined in the first place. The emphasis here is on rural speeds.

 

Measures for speed management

SWOV regards speeding measures as one of the main aspects of a policy that aims at reducing further the number of traffic casualties. Every % too fast means 3% more road deaths. Seen in this way, SWOV suggests striving to achieve the situation in which all road users, (almost) everywhere will abide by the current speed limits within a period of ten years. We will examine possibilities of achieving such an ambitious goal and the desired speed control. Two approaches will be used for this: control and surveillance combined with public information campaigns and new technologies along the roadside or in-vehicle. Interesting examples of this are optimizing police control and Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA).

 

Choice of route in a road network

A road user's route choice is not always the same as that intended when the infrastrucure was designed and built. In other words, the road's use deviates from its function. This project aims at possibilities of influencing motor vehicle drivers' route choice in such a way as to that their route fits the requirements of a 'Sustainably-Safe' transport and traffic system.

Sustainably-Safe advocates a layout that, with regard to infrastructure, has been adapted to human capacity. Among other things, this means that the shortest/quickest route must also be the safest.

This research uses, on the one hand, simulation models and, on the other hand, research methods that further examine road users' stated preferences.

The results of this research will be tested by means of field studies and simulation research.

 

Recognizable layout and predictable behaviour

With regard to roads, important starting points of Sustainably-Safe have been expressed in the core concepts of functionality, homogeneity, and uniformity. The conversion of the functional requirements, via operational requirements, to concrete design guidelines is an important bottleneck. This especially applies to the functional requirement of 'make road types recognizable'. In this project, we will study the way in which the layout of a road and its surroundings can increase its recognizability and, therefore, its road behaviour predictability. A good recognizability of a road type will 'provoke' desirable 'safe' behaviour and make undesirable (i.e. unsafe) behaviour less likely.

 

Novice drivers and the driver training

Novice motorists of 18-24 years old have, in comparison with older and more experienced drivers, a nearly three times larger chance of being killed or injured in a road crash. The combination of a 'too rose-coloured self image' and the under estimation of the driving task's complexity, forms the basis of their behaviour that results in a disproportionately high crash involvement. The term 'calibration' is used for the balance between self-estimation of skills and estimation of the driving task's complexity. The understanding, measuring, and influencing of 'calibration' is central in this project. The insights gained will be transformed into teaching methods and diagnostic measuring instruments for the driving course.

 

Effects of education and information campaigns

For a long time now, traffic education has, in road safety research circles, been one of 'the three Es' (Education, Enforcement, Engineering). However, in comparison with the other two, there has not been much success up till now in determining the actual effects of education, in terms of casualty reduction. The purpose of this project is to gain insight in specified aspects of education. We will make an inventory of the costs and benefits and the effectiveness of different types of education, thus providing materials for an effective and appropriate policy.

 

Optimal investments

SWOV has carried out an exploration of the possibilities of a social cost-benefit analysis of national road safety measures for the period up to 2020. This subsequent project is aimed at further developing the useful standard methods in which cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses of various road safety measures can be carried out at different levels of decision making. The effects on accessibility and the environment will also be taken into account. The intended result is a generally useful evaluation method of road safety measures.

 

Use of information in decision making on road safety

This project consists of two parts.

 

Cooperation during decision making

The first part is aimed at the influence of cooperation during the decision-making about constructing 60 km/h zones. Points of attention are: the many actors involved, the costs, the mobility interests, the environmental effects, the quality of the residential areas, and finally, the presence of public and/or managerial support.

 

Inclusion of road safety interests

The second part concerns taking the road safety interests into account during the decision-making about investments in building and repairing roads; besides those of accessibility, the environment, and spatial planning. It is aimed at: the decision-making about the allocation of the building/repairing budgets, the cooperation between the various organizations, and the use and influence of devices to support decision-making.

 

Advisory research

SWOV is often asked to participate in working groups, expert panels, etc. to share its knowledge with others, so as the Ministry of Transport, CROW Information Centre, the European Commission, ETSC, and OECD. This concerns knowledge dissemination, discussion, and specific advice, sometimes not requiring much time.

 

International research

This type of research was already part of the Programme 1999-2000. SWOV considers international cooperation as a possibility of participating in research for which the Netherlands is too small a country. Moreover, this participation leads to quality improvement. It is mainly research for the European Union.

At this moment, there are projects that started in the previous subsidy period, such as IMMORTAL (drugs, alcohol, medicines) and PENDANT (linking databases, in-depth crash studies).

Part of the EU research and (possibly) national research in the ICES-KIS3 framework (TRANSUMO project) will anyway fit the research activities and the planning office so closely that they can be seen as an integral part.

 

PhD Research

SWOV used the Programme 1999-2002 to extend the possibility of its PhD research (by its own personnel) and university graduates. SWOV wishes to continue in this way, providing that the subjects fit into the regular programme.

At this moment two graduates of Delft Technical University are involved in the NOW-Connekt project BAMADAS (Behavioural Analyses and Modelling of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). A third graduate is studying the older road users. A fourth graduate is studying traffic emotions.

 

Knowledge management

Road safety contains a large number of other subjects, besides those about which SWOV itself will carry out scientific, empirical, and renewing research. SWOV wishes to maintain its knowledge in an as broadly possible road safety area. Because of this, a large number of aspects of the scientific, factual, and policy developments will be followed. This is done by studying national and international literature, and the results will be published in 'literature studies'. In addition, so-called fact sheets for a large number of subjects will be published. In these, a brief overview of the most important facts and data will be presented.

The road safety subjects in this project are divided into four so-called domains: 'Human' (behaviour in the broadest sense), 'Vehicle' (vehicle, telematics, and injury consequences), 'Road' (Sustainably-Safe and infrastructure in the broadest sense), and 'Supporting processes and information' (research methods, laws, rules and regulations, and policy development).

 

Literature study

A literature study is published in a public SWOV report. It is supposed to have examined the internal quality and must meet the current standards of SWOV reports. In principle, a literature study leads to a deep insight in the material studied, based on an inherent judgement of every item, and concluded with a critical chapter 'discussion of the material studied'. The conclusions and recommendations (for research and policy) are included.

 

Fact sheet

The fact sheet offers brief information based on scientific research and presents a clear picture of the policy context of a particular subject. If possible, the fact sheet is illustrated with tables and/or graphs. Each will consist of a maximum of 4 pages. In principle, it is made according to an agreement and is, as such, included in the annual production schedule, as part of the Four-year Knowledge management plan.

The choice for a subject is partly based on what is known, the wishes of road safety professionals, or of the press. In many cases, a fact sheet will be based on what is already known (and has been reported).

Knowledge Dissemination

The demand for scientific road safety knowledge of professionals who work in traffic, transport, and road safety is large. SWOV experiences this time and again. SWOV uses a variety of methods to disperse its knowledge and offer information to all those whose work involves traffic and road safety, in the Netherlands or abroad.

In various ways, SWOV publishes its research results. Reports and articles are written, congress and course contributions are made, and we contributes to literature and information systems. At home and abroad, target groups are informed through its journals SWOVschrift (in Dutch) and Research Activities (in English).

This website with its Knowledge Base plays an ever more important role in the spreading of knowledge.

SWOV's library, which is the main centre for road safety literature in the Netherlands, also plays a key role in knowledge dissemination.

Knowledge base