Every year in Switzerland, about 600 people lose their lives and 6,000 are seriously injured in traffic accidents. This prompted Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger, of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), to instruct the Swiss Federal Roads Authority (FEDRO) to develop safety measures that could serve as the basis for a new road safety policy. The mandate was drawn up in the form of a project (called VESIPO), and FEDRO turned to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BfU) for support. With FEDRO supervising the work and providing follow-up, bfu internal and external experts laid the groundwork for a road traffic safety policy. The Road Traffic Research Committee examined the project and agreed to draw on the budget for road traffic research to finance it as research project ASTRA2000/477, “Definition of the principles for a federal road traffic safety policy (VESIPO)”. For the whole project, FEDRO established an auxiliary committee made up of eminent specialists on road safety in Switzerland. The project’s core component is VISION ZERO, or the concept that accidents that cause fatalities and serious injuries are no longer acceptable. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting