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%.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Safer speeds required says new report
    June 18, 2018
    A new report highlights speeding as a significant factor in a worryingly high percentage of road crashes. According to the report, inappropriate speed is responsible for between 20% and 30% of all road crashes involving fatalities. The report is based on a review of research into the relationship between speed and crash risk and has been produced by the OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF).
    Read More
  • TISPOL: drink driving continues to be a pan-European concern
    January 18, 2016
    Drink-drive enforcement still has issues in Europe, according to pan-European police body TISPOL Drink-driving is the cause of around 5,000 road deaths in Europe. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 230 (14%) of the country’s 1,713 road deaths are due to drinking and driving. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the limit for driving is still 80mg (0.8) of alcohol/100ml of blood. Scotland reduced its limit to 50mg (0.5) of alcohol/100ml of blood in December 2014, bringing it into line with most
    Read More
  • Tackling Indian road safety
    December 5, 2012
    India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ
    Read More
  • Getting a foothold on road safety
    September 3, 2012
    The Indian businessman, Rohit Baluja, has become one of the most articulate and outspoken advocates of road safety in developing countries. A leading figure in his country’s shoe industry, Baluja was converted to the cause that has become his lifelong passion during regular business trips to Europe
    Read More

Highlighted Content