Research programme 2012
The research programme of SWOV for 2012 consists of the following eleven clusters:
- Knowledge management and research support
- Communication and knowledge dissemination
- Assessments and outlooks
- Road safety observatory
- Decentralized policy, enforcement and education
- Safer roads
- Safer vehicles
- Road users in their environment
- Sustainable Safety 2012: innovation and specific policy issues
- Research for a 'plan of attack for bicycle safety'
- Responding to current matters
Knowledge management and research support
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The activities in this cluster focus on making high-quality and easily accessible information available for researchers and other road safety professionals; within SWOV, but also in other organizations. This involves managing the available and relevant information and data carriers the right way, making the information accessible and enabling easy sharing.
Communication and knowledge dissemination
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Publishing SWOV reports, the SWOV website, external communication and educational activities: they all aim at thorough communication of SWOV knowledge, in order to make a contribution to road safety improvement in the Netherlands and in other countries.
Assessments and outlooks
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The research within this cluster focuses on the analysis of the present road safety developments and on making prognoses for the future. The results are mainly intended to be used for preparing, monitoring, and evaluating road safety policy.
Road safety observatory
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This cluster comprises the SWOV activities which make it possible to describe road safety in quantitative terms and to carry out road safety research. Road safety and the factors that have an influence are measured, and the extent of the influence is determined. This knowledge serves as input for policy making.
Decentralized policy, enforcement and education
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The studies carried out within this cluster mainly focus on regional and municipal governments and/or the police and legislation. Research in the field of decentralized policy is about the control and strategic policy of regional and municipal governments.
Outlooks into possibilities for further cooperation in order to sufficiently tune road safety ambitions and priorities create opportunities, especially now that police and legislative authorities are engaged in a reorganization process. The ultimate goal is effective traffic enforcement.
SWOV also studies the effects of types and severities of punishment. Experiences with enforcement in the environment of small, non-traffic related crime and the role of public opinion will also be considered.
Safer roads
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The cluster Safer roads focuses on research into the relation between road infrastructure and road safety with special attention for 50 and 80 km/h roads, including the vulnerable road users. This research should result in scientific knowledge that will provide a better basis for design choices, in the best possible solutions and measures for the unsafe 50 and 80 km/h distributor roads, and in systems to optimize the road safety and design quality of the road network.
Safer vehicles
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The research in this cluster focuses on the further increase of the use of ITS and cooperative systems and the rise of electric vehicles. Study is also made of motorized two-wheelers and road haulage.
Road users in their environment
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This cluster gives the road user a central position in relation with road, vehicle and fellow-road users. The research has special attention for those road users who cannot yet, or can no longer participate in traffic safely, for example children, adolescents, elderly, those involved in crashes, and multiple offenders. Study is also made of temporary and chronic limitations that may affect driving skills, e.g. fatigue, distraction, physical, cognitive, neurological and (neuro)psychological characteristics or disorders.
Sustainable Safety 2012: Innovation and specific policy issues
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SWOV is making an analysis to find the explanation of why Sustainable Safety has been demonstrably effective in reducing the number of road fatalities, but has failed to do so for the number of traffic injuries. Study is made of: Social forgivingness, Recognizability, Automatic behaviour, and pilot studies are carried out into Informal education, and Sustainable Safety and serious road injuries.
Research for a 'plan of attack for bicycle safety'
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"How can cyclists safely participate in traffic, despite their great vulnerability?". This is the central question within the cluster Bicycle. Finding the answer requires study of the strong points of cyclists and their weaker ones, of the bicycle as a transport mode, of the interaction with other road users, and of the influence of the cycling environment.
Responding to current matters
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