The speed management situation in Germany
Problem description
Inappropriate speed was the accident cause of 61.078 accidents with personal damages in the year 2007 (Total accidents with personal injuries: 335 845). In these accidents, 1.963 persons were killed and 83.791 were injured (Total number of killed: 4.949, injured: 431.419 ). Compared with 2006, the number of accident due to inappropriate speed has decreased 4,4%, the number of killed 9,5% and the number of injured 4,7% . Nevertheless, two of five killed persons in road accidents died because of speeding. For the first time after years, the accident cause "inappropriate speed" (15% of all causes) was the second cause and not the first one and it decreased by 4,5%.
Existing measures
There are a lot of infrastructure related tools for urban and interurban roads as well as for highways or motorways to tackle speeding for many years , such as:
- Rebuilding of transit roads in towns and villages
- Installation of roundabouts
- Installation of 30 km/h zones and traffic calming zones through speed-reducing elements such as special pavement and design of the roadside
- Speed limit reduction in alleys
- Guardrails in front of trees and other roadside obstacles, especially in curves and road sections
- Installation of special lanes for turning left on dangerous intersections
- Installation of special lanes for passing on country roads
- Fixed and mobile Police and municipality speed enforcement
Special measures for powered two wheeled drivers such as rumble strips on the road surface remind them to slow down, special guardrails on the roadside to get injured on the legs.
Success stories
Decrease of killed road users from 7.503 persons in the year 2000 to 4.949 persons in 2007 ( minus 34%):
Registration of traffic offenders in the Central Register of Traffic Offenders since 1974. Basis for the registration of "overspeeders" and more than 2.000 fixed cameras all over the country as well as numerous mobile controls. Removal of so called "high risk sites" through the successful work of the local road accident commissions, integrated by the local police, the local traffic management and road maintenance authorities. They have the task to recommend and implement remedial measures such as the re-design of town/city access with speed reducing road furniture.
Nationwide campaign "Runter vom Gas". Almost one third of all accidents occur due to overspeeding. The campaign is supported by the Ministry of Transport, Housing and Urban Development and implemented by DVR (German Road Safety Council). The communication approach is a shocking one and addresses the emotions of the road participants: www.runter-vom-gas.de.
Campaign "Bester Beifahrer" www.bester-beifahrer.de informs car and vehicle drivers about the usefulness and safety relevance of Driver Assistance Systems such as ESC, Lane Keeping Assistance, Brake Assistance etc. and is connected to the eSafety Aware! Campaign of the FIA, Partners and the European Commission.
What is needed for the future?
A much stronger decrease of killed and injured motorcycle drivers. Every 5th killed road participant is a motorized two wheeler (including Mofas and Mopeds), this figure remains constant for years and shows the need for more action.
To take stronger into account the "Vision Zero" philosophy in the sense that the road safety policy and its implementation should be adapted to the vulnerability of the road user. More emphasis should be taken to reduce the number of severely injured, not only to reduce the numbers of killed road users.