Seatbelt Research and Legislation in the Netherlands 856076

SWOV is the coordinating institute for scientific research on traffic safety in the Netherlands. A new international approach is being prepared for integrated road safety plans both in the field of the policymakers (on all levels) and in the field of research. This approach becomes necessary to further improve the safety of traffic on a large scale. Research projects such as detailed accident studies and seatbelt surveys have been carried out by SWOV and the results reported to the government and used to develop seatbelt legislation in the Netherlands. The layout of current seatbelt legislation and the compliance details are discussed.

Legislative developments are to be expected with respect to seatbelts on back seats. A comprehensive report of SWOV on the pro's and contra's of new measures in this field has been published.

Mathematical crash models are being developed and used and may well be applied to predict changes in the population at risk with regard to injury severity levels. This will create a priority scale for proposed new measures