Abstract: This article discusses some recent trends and current issues in road safety, pointing out that there have been some enormous advances, but that special attention needs to be given to safer highways. In Germany, during the last 20 years, the number of fatal or serious injury accidents has almost halved, even though the traffic volume has almost doubled. German motorways, which have no general speed restrictions, are safer than those in comparable countries where general speed limits are enforced. The aim should be to optimise overall road safety, by optimising the interaction between drivers, vehicles, road surfaces, and the environment. Modern information and communication technologies provide completely new possibilities for improving the safety of all these parts of the system. Information technology did not decisively improve road traffic safety until it was applied to anti-lock braking systems. Here, for the first time, technology took over from the driver. The author considers such intervention legitimate, if and only if the technology is quicker than a person in recognising danger, and quicker and better at reacting to it. The next stop is to incorporate this type of 'intelligent' technology into the whole road traffic system. The tailback information and warning system ARTHUR is a good example of such a technology. It provides early warning of hazards to motorists, and can alert the emergency services. There are many other possibilities for similar systems, and for providing continuous relevant information to drivers. The French title of this article is: La voie rapide vers la securite. The German title is: Schnellbahn in richtung sicherheit. The Spanish title is: Hacia la seguridad sin atajos.
Publication Year: 1919
Publication Date: 1919-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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