Heavy vehicles and traffic accidents – Norway versus other European countries

Tunge kjøretøy og trafikkulykker – Norge sammenlignet med andre land i Europa

Norway is among those countries in the world with the highest traffic safety standards. Despite this, there is a 35 percent higher risk per capita of dying in an accident involving a heavy vehicle, when compared with the European average. A heavy vehicle is involved in every third traffic fatality in Norway, which is double the corresponding share for other European countries on average. The percentage reduction in the number killed in accidents with heavy vehicles over recent years is also less in Norway than in many other countries. When the fatality risk is measured per truck kilometer driven, however, Norway appears to rank just below the average level for other European countries. Dispersed business locations and a strong economy have led to increased heavy goods traffic on Norwegian roads, which are characterized by many curves and a lack of physical division between opposing driving lanes. This is the most important explanation for the relative high level of killed per capita in road accidents involving heavy vehicles in Norway. The report gives an overview of the risk factors associated with the use of heavy vehicles on Norwegian roads. A comprehensive and coordinated effort is proposed using a range of countermeasure domains, with increased use of technology as a consistent theme: 1) Transfer of cargo transport to sea and rail, 2) More predictable and forgiving road design, 3) Improved traffic regulation in unpredictable and deviant traffic environments, 4) Stricter inspection of the stability of heavy vehicles, 5) Better co-ordination of supervisory and 6) Increased use of driver support systems.

• Record URL:
  https://www.toi.no/getfile.php?mmfileid=43094
• 
• Summary URL:
  https://www.toi.no/getfile.php/Publikasjoner/T%C3%98I%20rapporter/2016/1494-2016/Summary.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9788248017202
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2016 Institute of Transport Economics/Transportøkonomisk Institutt. Report in Norwegian, summary in English.
• Authors:
  • Langeland, Per Andreas
  • Phillips, Ross Owen
• Publication Date: 2016-10

Language

• English
• Norwegian

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 114p
• Serial:
  • TØI Report
  • Issue Number: 1494/2016
  • Publisher: Institute of Transport Economics (TØI)
  • ISSN: 0808-1190
  • EISSN: 2535-5104
  • Serial URL: https://www.toi.no/publications/category29.html
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Crash risk forecasting; Fatalities; Heavy vehicles; Traffic crashes
• Geographic Terms: Europe; Norway
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01634734
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9788248017202
• Contract Numbers: 4260
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 16 2017 9:30AM