Skip to main content

SWOV says Dutch roads too narrow and need widening to cut accidents

The scientific institute on traffic safety Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid (SWOV) in the Netherlands has called for many national roads to be widened to cut accident levels. SWOV argues that a large share of Dutch roads with a 80km/h maximum speed limit are too narrow. Such roads are on average 7.5m wide, making them, SWOV says, among the narrowest in the world, with traffic having an average 2.75m of space to use. According to SWOV this should be at least 3.3m, which, it claims, cou
August 15, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The scientific institute on traffic safety Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid (7450 SWOV) in the Netherlands has called for many national roads to be widened to cut accident levels.

SWOV argues that a large share of Dutch roads with a 80km/h maximum speed limit are too narrow. Such roads are on average 7.5m wide, making them, SWOV says, among the narrowest in the world, with traffic having an average 2.75m of space to use. According to SWOV this should be at least 3.3m, which, it claims, could reduce the number of accidents by 10%.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Philipp Swarovski lays down the marker
    June 10, 2019
    Swarco’s chief operating officer Philipp Swarovski shares his thoughts on highway safety and infrastructure in an age of uncertain future needs. David Arminas reports It was in Austria in 1969 when Manfred Swarovski opened his first glass bead factory. Five years later, operations started in the US. As the years rolled by there followed acquisitions and expansion of manufacturing facilities as well as a shift into intelligent transportation systems globally. Fast forward to 2019 and the family compan
  • Road accident database vital for road safety
    February 16, 2012
    In the last of our profiles of laureates of the inaugural Innovation Award for Road Transport in Developing Countries (InARoaD), we meet the winner of the Road Safety category, and third prize overall
  • Road accident database vital for road safety
    April 12, 2012
    In the last of our profiles of laureates of the inaugural Innovation Award for Road Transport in Developing Countries (InARoaD), we meet the winner of the Road Safety category, and third prize overall A vital prerequisite for achieving safer roads is thorough assessment of prevailing traffic situations and identification of associated factors. In this respect, the availability of a comprehensive road accident database is crucial for understanding the pattern of accident causation. Conscious of the ne
  • Netherlands: Hochtief, Fluor and Heijmans win Zuidasdok contract
    January 26, 2017
    Germany's Hochtief and US-based Fluor have been awarded a preliminary construction contract for the Zuidasdok regeneration project in Amsterdam. Hochtief and Fluor will each secure 42.5% of the €990 million contract while Dutch contractor Heijmans will secure 15%. Zuidasdok - a joint project by the city of Amsterdam, ProRail and Rijkswaterstaat – will redevelopment the area around Amsterdam Zuid train and metro station, including major changes to the A10 motorway. ProRail is a government organisati