With this monthly newsletter we wish to draw your attention to new topics on our website. This month in the SWOV newsletter:
SWOV in the Dutch media
Publications
Fact sheets
Library
Knowledge base
Congresses and meetings

Road safety assessment
On Thursday 12 November, SWOV presented the report about the Road safety assessment of ten years of sustainable safety. This resulted in publications in, among others, the Dutch daily papers De Telegraaf, Volkskrant, and most of the regional daily papers. SWOV's managing director Fred Wegman commented on the report on BNR Newsradio.

A Different Way of Paying for Road Use
The press release about A Different Way of Paying for Road Use on Monday 16 November resulted in publications in, among others, the Dutch daily papers Parool, De Telegraaf, Volkskrant and Dagblad van het Noorden. Head of the Road Safety Research Department Rob Eenink was interviewed by Dutch radio NOS and Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep.

Seriously injured
On Tuesday 17 November SWOV published the press release on seriously injured casualties in the Netherlands in the period 1993-2008. The report was reason for Dutch Minister of Transport Eurlings to ask for an investigation into the backgrounds of the increasing number of road crash casualties in traffic crashes.

Ten years of Sustainable Safety
Road safety assessment 1998-2007. W.A.M. Weijermars & I.N.L.G. van Schagen (ed.) R-2009-14.
In the early 1990s, the road safety vision Sustainable Safety was introduced. The actual implementation of Sustainable Safety started in 1998, after the Covenant Start-up Programme Sustainable Safety had been signed by Dutch Ministry of Transport and the decentralized governments. This road safety assessment looks at to what extent measures have been implemented that emanate from Sustainable Safety or agree with it, and at the safety effects this has had during the last ten years.

Road safety effects of the introduction of a different way of paying for Road Use
G. Schermers & M.C.B. Reurings. R-2009-2.
This study determined the effects the introduction of a national kilometre rate (A Different Way of Paying for Road Use) will have on road safety. Such road pricing will have an effect on future mobility, which means there will also be a road safety effect. This report has calculated the main road safety effects for different pricing variants and scenario's for the future. Furthermore, the study investigated the possible effects of a rush hour rate, an increase in mass of the vehicle fleet, changes in the mobility behaviour of young drivers, and a shift from passenger car kilometres to motorcycle kilometres.

Seriously injured road crash casualties in the Netherlands in the period 1993-2008
The real number of in-patients with a minimum MAIS 2.
M.C.B. Reurings & N.M. Bos. R-2009-12.
In the Netherlands, a 'seriously injured traffic casualty' usually meant an in-patient until now. An in patient being a casualty who has spent a minimum of one night in hospital. However, SWOV research showed that in-patients are not always seriously injured. The Dutch Minister of Transport has therefore decided from now on to only use the real seriously injured; those with a Maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS) of at least 2.
This report gives the real numbers of seriously injured for the period 1993-2008 according to the new definition. It also describes the novel method for estimating the real number s of seriously injured.

Road safety in the Province of Gelderland and the possibilities for improvement
W.A.M. Weijermars, L.T. Aarts & C.C. Schoon (red.). R-2009-13.
Provinces and municipal regions have an important role in setting out regional policy. The national road safety targets have also been translated to the regional level. This prompted the Regional Road Traffic Safety Authority Gelderland to ask SWOV to investigate to what extent the Gelderland road safety targets will be made with present road safety policy, and whether this requires extra efforts. This report first gives an analysis of the present road safety level in Gelderland. The report continues with forecasts for the future which are based on different scenarios.

Road safety effects of lowering the minimum age for the A1 motorcycle to 16 or 17
Y. van Norden & C.C. Schoon. R-2009-16.
A new European Directive for 2013, gives the Member States the choice of setting the minimum age for the A1 licence (up to 125 cc) at 16, 17 or 18 years old. In the Netherlands, the present minimum age for riding a motorcycle is 18. This report discusses the road safety effects of a possible lowering of the minimum age for riding an A1 motocycle from 18 to 16 or 17 years old.

Dutch road safety in international perspective

New acquisitions
Every day, publications are added to the library collection, both those ordered by us and those sent to us. Every month, an overview of these is placed on our website, to be consulted. You will find the overview here.

Handbook for the assessment of driving capacity
M. Schultheis, J. DeLuca & D. Chute (eds.) Oxford [etc.], Elsevier/Academic Press, 2008, XIII + 242 p., ref. - ISBN 0-12-631255-9 / ISBN 978-0-12-631255-3
This is a resource for professionals involved in determining the driving capacity of individuals with neurological involvement and or trauma. While much work has been completed in this new and growing field, this is the first attempt to bring together clinical work on assessing driving capacity for different clinical populations and conditions. Specific topics include, traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, normal aging, medications, retraining, interventions, medical conditions, legal issues, practical issues, assessment instruments, simulators, research and epidemiology.

Modelling driver behaviour in automotive environments : critical issues in driver interactions with intelligent transport system. P.C. Cacciabue (ed.) Berlin, Springer, 2007, XIV + 440 p., ref. - ISBN 978-1-84628-617-9
This book presents a general overview of the various factors that contribute to modelling human behaviour in this specialised environment. All of these aspects contribute to creating the overall picture of the DVE model, and demonstrate the scope and dimensions of the many different interaction processes that demand modelling consideration. (Author/publisher).

National young-driver survey : teen perspective and experience with factors that affect driving safety. K.R. Ginsburg [et al.]. Pediatrics, Vol. 121 (2008), No. 5 (May), e1391-e1403, 76 ref.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of fatality and acquired disability in adolescents. Young, inexperienced drivers are overrepresented in crashes. The goal of this study was to explore the adolescent perspective on driving safety to provide a better understanding of factors that influence safety and teenagers’ exposure to driving hazards.
Results showed that drinking while driving was ranked as the greatest hazard (87% of the respondents reported that it made a lot of difference), although only 12% witnessed it often.  

In the Knowledge base the following topics have been updated:
Netherlands Mobility Survey (MON), tables have been supplemented with 2008 data.
The observed decline in mobility was higher than expected. There for an extensive investigation was made of the reliability of the data.
Traveller kilometres
Licence possession
Fleet slow vehicles
The numbers of (slow) mopeds are much lower in MON than according to Vehicle Technology and Information Centre RDW. Since licencing was introduced, RDW has reliable data on the numbers of (slow) mopeds.
The tables containing the casualty and crash rates have been updated to include 2008
Casualties per billion traveller kilometres
Drivers involved per billion vehicle kilometres