Road traffic accidents and traffic safety in general are a huge societal problem. Traffic accidents are estimated to be the third leading cause of premature death worldwide by 2020. Next to the human suffering, traffic accidents also result in huge social and economic costs. This clearly shows the necessity to consistently improve the road safety situation and why traffic safety is a major concern in the view of sustainable development. In order to reduce the number of accidents and road fatalities, appropriate and well-supported road safety measures need to be taken and the road infrastructure has to be improved, permitting to reduce the severity of the consequences of the inevitable human errors. However, because of constraints in time and money, road manufacturers cannot modify all roads in order to improve safety. One effective and widely used approach in order to improve road infrastructure is black spot management, since this makes it possible to allocate the available resources to the most dangerous locations.
Promotor: Prof. Dr. Cathy Macharis
Committee members: Prof. Dr. Frank Canters; Prof. Dr. Lieselot Vanhaverbeke; Prof. Dr. Karel Brookhuis; Prof. Dr. Elke Hermans