In 2022 in total 737 road deaths were registered in The Netherlands. Most fatalities occurred among cyclists (39%; n=287). In 2021 about 5000 cyclists were seriously injured (MAIS3+) due to crashes. Among these about 80% are crashes without involvement of motorized traffic. The number of cycling fatalities and serious injuries is increasing in the past years. This requires more attention in order to reach the Dutch policy aims to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries with an ambition of zero casualties in 2050.
In 2018, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management together with the boards of regional and local authorities launched the Strategic Road Safety Plan 2030. The Ministry established the Knowledge Network for the Strategic Road Safety, which is a cooperation between the Dutch knowledge center directed at infrastructure, traffic, and safety (CROW) and the Dutch institute for road safety research (SWOV).
One of the key elements in this initiative is the implementation of a ‘risk-based’ approach, which means that crash statistics are not the primary source for road safety policy, but indicators that provide information on hazards in road traffic: the risk-indicators, also known as road Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs). One of these SPIs is focused on improving the safety of infrastructure; including cycling infrastructure. The SPI for cycling infrastructure is defined as the proportion of cyclists that cycle on infrastructure that is qualified as sufficiently safe. As a first part of the operationalization of what is called ‘sufficiently safe’ cycling infrastructure, SWOV selected essential safety elements of a specific part of the cycling infrastructure, namely the cycle paths (not including intersections). [From introduction]
