THE ONE TRAFFIC OFFENCE IS NOT THE OTHER . FOR ALL SAFETY; CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF TRAFFIC SAFETY

Traffic behaviour is multilateral and can be considered on the one hand as deliberate behaviour selection, and on the other as automatic behaviour. Traffic regulations are also multilateral as regards the behaviour that is prescribed, the accuracy by which that happens and its meaning. Therefore it is very difficult to make pronouncements about the enforcement of traffic regulations. A problem with traffic regulations is that in traffic the consequences of behaviour selection often depends upon the circumstances. Even if everyone agrees that a certain behaviour can be dangerous in traffic, the chance that such a behaviour will cause an accident is still small. Therefore it is difficult and almost impossible to make general rules without getting vague or too simple. The new Dutch traffic regulation do not differ much from the old ones. A choice is made to have less vague and less simple rules. A second major problem is that the enforcement of traffic regulations mainly lies in the hands of police and the judiciary, road administrators, and those who are involved in the driver training. Therefore agreement and attuning is needed. However little has been done till up to now. (TRRL)