Road safety

The Report to be reviewed is “Analysis of Road Safety Trends 2010, Management by Objectives for Road Safety
Work, Towards the 2020 Interim Targets”.
This report has been produced by an analysis group which consists of analysts from the Swedish Transport
Agency, Transport Analysis ,VTI(the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute) and the Swedish
Transport Administration.
This report has been published, printed and distributed by the Swedish Transport Administration in April 2011.
It is the third follow up of the road safety objectives for road traffic in 2020.The road safety trends in 2010 has
been described and analysed in the report in a very detailed manner. The results have been analysed on the
basis of the number of fatalities and casualties and designated Road Safety Performance Indicators. The road
safety trends and the basis for work to meet the objectives by 2020 has been described in the report in a
detailed and clear manner. This analytical report will form the basis for the 2011 result conference in
Stockholm.
As per the Swedish Government Bill 2008/09/:9,the number of fatalities in road traffic should be halved
between 2007 and 2020 which means a maximum of 220 and also the number of persons seriously injured in
road traffic should be reduced by a quarter. In order to fulfil this resolution, Swedish Road Administration with
the aim to create a long term perspective and systematics in road safety work put up this report. The report is
based on managing road safety work by objectives, more action based interim targets and annual result
conferences in which road safety trends about the achievement of objectives will be evaluated. This Report is
not a onetime Report but as per the plans, the target levels and combination of Road Performance indicators
are to be reviewed in 2012. In order to ensure that the choice of Road Safety Performance indicators and
targets are relevant and suitable as possible during the entire milestone period ,this report states whether the
motive or measurements for certain Road Performance Indicator should be reviewed or not.
Traffic volumes, surrounding world factors and road safety measures are some of the important factors on
which the number of fatalities and casualties depend. In Sweden, till 2010 suicides were included in the official
statistics on fatalities in road traffic. But after 2010 with suicides excluded, the statistics from and including
2010 are not fully comparable with previous years. As per this Report, the target of number of fatalities is 220
and by seeing the past trends it would mean an annual decrease of 5% in the number of fatalities
The number of fatalities for various road-user categories have been shown very nicely graphically in Figure 2 as
shown below in the report.

As can be seen from the graph, the number of fatalities of motor cyclists have not decreased to the same
extent as other road user categories which may be because the volume of motorcyclists have doubled during
this period
The past trends and the target year -2020 for seriously injured people has been shown very clearly in the report
which is given below. However ,pedestrians are not included in the official statistics.

The report states that after 2007 the cyclists are the road users that are most seriously injured .
Comparing internationally, in 2001, the European Commission decreed that the number of fatalities should be
reduced by half in 2010 that is a decrease from 54000 to 27000.Upto and including 2009, the decrease had
been 36 per cent. Further to this, in July 2010, the European Commission made a decision to halve the number
of fatalities from 2010 to 2020.
A number of important factors which are important for road safety are economics, demographics and weather
and climate. These further effect the complex composition of traffic volumes which is important for trends
regarding the number of fatalities and casualties in road traffic.
Experiences from several countries have shown that an economic downturn in the economy is followed by a
reduction in number of fatalities on the roads. Official statistics from the National Accounts shows very clearly
that strong growth is bad for road safety and recession is good.
Also the official statistics from Transport Analysis shows that a bad employment situation is good from the road
safety point of view .Which means that when unemployment rises, the number of fatalities reduce. Considering
the age factor, the high risk group are 75 and over age group and persons with 18-24age. Further considering
the factors of weather and climate it is seen that during the summer-more traffic, higher speeds and higher
number of motorcyclists lead to greater number of accidents as compared to winter season.
The present status in 2010 for the Road Safety Performance indicators and a check as to if the change from
2007 has taken place so that the objective can be reached by 2020 has been discussed and given in a very
detailed manner The table below shows the starting position,2010 and 2020 levels of varios indicators along
with the trend
Various Road Performance indicators are
 The Performance indicator of compliance with Speed Limits on national road network- which only
measures changes in speeds at a number of measurement points to show the general speed trends
but does not reflect changes to the applicable speed or automatic speed monitoring. As per the
Report, the average speed of total traffic is more in line to meeting the target whereas the percentage
of people driving at higher speeds than speed limit is not following the trend for achieving the target of
2020. In 2011, the Swedish Transport Administration plans to start a partnership with stakeholders so
as to have an increase in the compliance with the speed limits with greater focus on heavy transport.
 Compliance with speed limits on the municipal network-Nationwide measurements have not been
conducted on the municipal network after 2003 and thus whether the trends are going towards the
target is not known. The Analysis Group of this Report feels that if within the near future this Road
Performance Indicator is not followed in a proper manner and nor the targets are set then it should be
excluded from the Review of Road performance Indicators in 2012.
 Sober Traffic-This Road performance indicator is based on the data from police inspection activities as a
measurement of drink driving trend which does not include the influence of drugs. To have a greater
check ,in addition to the increase in surveillance which is already quite high in Sweden, the use of
alcolocks is required. Introduction of legislation for alcolocks will lead to development of cheaper and
user friendly alcolocks, thus stimulating increase in use by the passenger car drivers.
 Use of Seat belts-This indicator is based on the observations at major roundabouts in six urban areas in
Central Sweden and are for monitoring the trends over time. The trend for this performance indicator
has been found to be not satisfactory. Although for the past few years ,the use of seat belts has
stagnated but in the long term there is an upward trend. With the seat belt reminders in cars on the
increase should lead to an increase in the use of seat belts. However the target is yet not clear whether
will be achieved or not as the seat belt reminders are provided for the front seats in the new cars
whereas the target has been set for all front seat passengers and the target also includes old cars which
have no seat belt reminders.
 Use of helmets-As per the report, the target which is 70% in the year 2020 would require a mandatory
legislation for all cyclists to wear helmets. The use of helmets for motorcyclists has not been
considered in this report as the main potential for saving lives lie in measures other than for increasing
the use of helmets. In the Road Safety Survey conducted by the Swedish Transport Administration it is
seen that there is a relatively good support for increased helmet use.
 Safe Vehicles
(i) Safe Passenger Cars-The percentage of new passenger cars sold with highest safety scores in Euro
NCAP has increased previously but for three years it remained the same. This may be because of
introduction of more challenging requirements for getting highest scores in Euro NCAP. This
indicates that actual safety levels of cars have increased even if the percentage of cars sold with the
highest scores in Euro NCAP has remained the same. Thus the report suggests to review this
Performance indicator in the year 2012 provided that the revised target level causes the same
number of fatalities. There are a number of other measures .Incentives should be provided to
consumers to choose safest cars. ISO 39001 should be contributing for self-monitoring when buying
vehicles. Systems such as automatic braking system has a good safety potential .Discounted
premiums for cars with automatic braking, Taxation system favouring safety equipment would have
greater impact, scrapping of old cars premium will have a good effect on vehicle safety but they
should be linked to requirements for safety and environmental impact in the purchase of new car.
(ii) Safe heavy vehicles-At present the technology being introduced in heavy vehicles is focussed on rear
end collisions, lane keeping systems and electronic stability control. However, majority of serious
accidents involving heavy vehicles are head on collisions and heavy vehicles rarely cross to the other
side, thus the potential of this technology should be looked into.
 (iii) Safe motorcycles and mopeds-Provision of ABS brakes on motorcycles have brought about
reduction in the accidents. For moped safety, tuning down of the speeds was considered as an
operation for safer vehicles.
 Safe National Roads-The Road performance indicators for safe national roads are the percentage of
traffic volume on roads with speed limit above 80km/hour with median barriers. The other measures
are side barriers, a corrugated central reservation and few opportunities for overtaking. Emergency
braking systems in new cars and lorries and operational measures to reinforce edge and central lines
would lead to reduction in accidents.
 Safe municipal streets-
(i) Safe pedestrian, cycle and moped passages in urban areas-A pedestrian, cycle and moped passage is
considered safe if it is grade separated or if 85 per cent of motorists drive at a maximum of
30km/hr. Speed limit review in urban areas would bring about lower speed levels in urban areas.
Safe crossings in urban areas- A crossing is considered safe if speeds are managed by a roundabout
or 85 per cent of motorists drive at maximum of 50km/hr.
The report says, if target is not set and the performance indicator not followed up in near future it
should be excluded from 2012 review.
 Road Performance Indicator of Refreshed drivers takes into account the drivers who have fallen
asleep/almost fallen asleep. Studies have identified young drivers, professional drivers and shift
workers as the risk group with greater risk late at night. Provision of milled rumble strips have brought
about a reduction in the number of accidents. However ,the analysis group is not clear as to how this
indicator effects the number of fatalities and unless it is followed in future the Analysis Group wants
this Road Performance indicator to be excluded in the Review of Road Safety Indicators in 2012.
 Prompt and satisfactory rescue- Speed and quality of the rescue is important to maximise the number
of people surviving a road accident. SOS alarms gives the time in which an ambulance arrives after
receiving the alarm but it does give any indication to the time of accident. Trend has seen an average
increase in this time but is not clear if it is trend or an outcome from year to year. Target and follow up
if not considered then the 2012 review should not consider it.
 High Valuation of Road Safety- In order to know the public’s attitude and behaviour on roads, a
weighted index based on questions of road safety has been considered by the Swedish Transport
Administration as Road Safety Performance Indicator .A high valuation is important so that the new
measures when introduced are respected .
Lot of further work is required to be done on the indicators which cannot be measured such as compliance
with the speed limits on the municipal road and streets and also on the performance indicators where the
outcome cannot be linked to the number of fatalities such as refreshed drivers. Also better measurements to
have in depth knowledge for the Road Performance indicators is required. From the Safety point of view, it is
not possible to explain accident by one component in the complete system breaking down. Even if all the
components are within limits, complex and unforeseen reactions between these can lead to accidents. Thus
the Road Safety Performance Indicators should be looked into together and not in isolation from each other to
optimise safety work. To get best possible returns from our road safety investments ,we should understand
and analyse the interactions between different performance indicators in depth. A system oriented models and
concrete methods should be started with.
Our Course –Transportation Safety and Environment deals with the multidisciplinary approach to planning
traffic safety. In this report, the Analysis group has a clear focus that the number of fatalities and seriously
injured are to be reduced by 2020 with a quantified target. For this, the report gives in detail the trends of the
past years and also that whether it will be possible to achieve the target. This is not a onetime report but a
continuous review is involved so that at any stage the improvements if required can be done. The various road
performance indicators give a very clear picture to the future of road safety . However, the report clearly
makes us understand a system approach is required to bring about any changes.