Crash violence within the road transport system: Summary report

This report presents an analytical summary of earlier LINTU programme studies on crash violence and material produced in connection with those studies. The series of studies examined fatal motor vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle accidents in different traffic environments. In-depth analysis was limited to accidents that did not involve significant risktaking. These cases, where the road transport system was used as intended, accounted for about half of all fatal accidents. On the basis of the studies it can be said that the road transport system does not protect road users adequately in a case of human error. The road transport system needs to be developed to make it safer. Head-on collisions on single-carriageway main roads, where speeds are high, have serious consequences. Upgrading busy roads to dual-carriageway roads or roads with a median barrier would be an effective way to prevent fatal accidents. The cost-effectiveness of median barriers on 1+1-lane roads should be studied with practical testing. An alternative to installing median barriers is to lower speed limits. Junctions should be improved and their number decreased. Guard rails alongside roads also need to be renovated. Pedestrian and bicycle safety in areas with dense roadside settlement needs to be improved. Regional and connecting roads have risks similar to those on single-carriageway roads, but they have clearly less headon collisions. Lower speed limits should be considered. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic conditions should be improved. Accidents on motorways are rare. Obsolete guard rails and driving in the wrong direction on ramps are risk factors. Fatal accidents in population centres can be prevented most effectively by improving the traffic environment expressly from the standpoint of pedestrians and bikers. Driving speeds must be lowered. Traffic arrangements at junctions and crosswalks must be clarified. The complex right-of-way regulations of bicycle paths are difficult to interpret. Intelligent safety devices in cars reduce traffic deaths at lower driving speeds. At high speeds, systems that prevent accidents are needed, such as stability control systems and systems that maintain drivers’ alertness. In order to improve anticipation of traffic situations, use of safety devices and the ability to recognise risks, it is necessary to further develop training, education and information provided to all road user groups. The study found that risk-taking is quite common in traffic. It is necessary to more directly intervene in risk-taking.