Background

On 20 June 2010, the European released its latest European Road Safety Action Programme (ERSAP) entitled ‘Towards a European road safety area: policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020’

The ERSAP sets out an ambitious target of halving fatalities in the European Union by the end of the decade. Realising this important milestone means acting on the pillars of the road safety triangle, i.e. the vehicle, the driver and the infrastructure.

Advancements in vehicle and acting on the driver (training and enforcement) have no doubt an important role to play in bringing down road fatalities. Yet, we should not forget that to err is human and that, in the sense, a well preserved and adapted road infrastructure ought to be seen as a sine qua non for achieving safety on Europe’s roads.

Adapting the road infrastructure to meet the changing needs of European citizens is essential if road are to maintain their forgiving nature. Europe’s population is ageing rapidly and according to the current demographic projections, 1/3 of all drivers will be above 60 by 2020. Given that road accident statistics indicate that older drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents than their younger counterparts, research is needed to better understand how the infrastructure should be adapted to meet the needs of an ageing population.

In this context, the RAINVISION project will seek to investigate the influence of road markings on driver behaviour in light of an ageing population.