PROSPER - Project for Research on Speed Adaptation Policies on European Roads
Overview
Background & policy context:
Despite some improvements in recent years, the number of road accident victims in the European Union is still high with around 42,000 fatalities and 1.6 million injuries a year. Inappropriate speed has been identified as a major cause. Unless this pattern changes, roughly one in every eighty European citizens will be killed on the roads and one European in three will need hospital treatment after an accident, at least once in their life. If the cost of emergency services and medical care is included, the total cost of fatal accidents in the EU is put at € 45 billion a year or € 1 million for every person killed.
A major cause of road accidents is inappropriate speed, i.e. the driver has not adapted the vehicle speed to the prevailing circumstances or is unaware of hazards due to lack of information. A common name for measures that can be undertaken to overcome such problems is road speed management.
While traditional road speed management measures normally include installation of physical obstacles in the roadway to prevent speeding, alternative solutions based on information and the use of information technology are under development.
The EC has recognised the contribution that new technologies can make in achieving the goals of the Common Transport Policy through a reduction in road speed. The Council resolution of June 2000 explicitly identifies “…the use of advanced assisted driving technology…which has considerable potential for improving road safety” and “…technology relating to speed limitation devices and to identify any technical, organisational, administrative and legal difficulties in introducing them…” as important measures for further investigation.
Therefore the question arises: why is the implementation of new road speed management methods not well under way?
From a policy perspective there is a vast difference between implementation of traditional (physical) speed management methods and advanced methods based on information technology. While traditional speed management methods are subject to “local decisions regarding local solutions for local problems”, advanced methods require decisions at higher political and industrial levels: Speed management methods that require interaction between a vehicle and its surroundings involve a totally different set of policies and decision making processes.
The aim of the PROSPER project was to address these policy aspects of road speed m
Objectives:
The main objective of the PROSPER project was to contribute to improved road traffic safety by providing answers to the following questions:
- how efficient are the use of road speed management methods based on information technology (ISA) in comparison with traditional physical means?
- how will road users across Europe react to such developments?
- what are suitable strategies for implementation and what obstacles have to be overcome?
A further objective was to forward the information collected and knowledge generated to the key policy stakeholders with the purpose of removing barriers to the implementation of modern methods for road speed management.
Methodology:
The overall project objective, as defined above, was achieved by focusing on the following research processes:
- to co-ordinate data collection in national ISA demonstrations and supplement the information through additional field trials and experiments;
- to assess user reactions (behaviour and acceptance) to different types of road speed management methods and implementation strategies across Europe;
- to assess traffic safety effects from ISA through bench marking against other speed management methods and measuring other effects (network, traffic flow, noise, and pollution);
- to assess cost effectiveness for safety and the overall cost benefit of road speed management methods;
- to perform a technical review of mechanisms that may influence driver road speed behaviour and the prospect for implementation in relation to technical standards;
- to outline and evaluate implementation strategies for different types of speed management methods, taking into account user acceptance and legal and policy aspects;
- to disseminate project results to key stakeholders in the implementation process;
- to support the establishment of policy initiatives for the introduction of modern speed management methods.
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