Perception of lack of traffic safety : an exploration of subjective safety

This report discusses what has been found in literature about subjective lack of safety, which is the lack of safety as it is experienced during traffic participation, and on the concern about traffic safety that one experiences outside traffic participation. In addition this report discussed the effect of subjective safety on road traffic behaviour, on the acceptance of and compliance with traffic measures, and on prioritization of policy measures. This is followed by a brief survey of the development of views on subjective safety in the Netherlands during the past decades and the effects this has had on the institutionalization of the pursuit of improving road traffic safety. It has also been studied how the experienced lack of safety can be used to detect latent shortcomings of the traffic system. The report ends with a number of conclusions. This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://www.swov.nl/rapport/R-2008-15.pdf