NEW RULES AND SIGNALS FOR TRAFFIC

This paper discusses the new traffic rules being developed in The Netherlands, to overcome the serious problems there that rules and signals are neglected on a large scale and are often too complicated. The new principles for rules and signals are: (1) traffic rules should be applied only when essential; (2) there should be no signals when infrastructural solutions are at stake; (3) when signals are necessary, use them only when people can be expected to accept them and enough police enforcement is assured; (4) quantity of rules and signals is no longer required; (5) rules and signals should have a high quality, and be able to solve problems in a way acceptable to people. In applying these principles, the traffic administration has made itself vulnerable, because it sometimes has to refuse the requests of action and pressure groups. Nevertheless, the Dutch Government has chosen this approach, because it considers that it is the only way to improve road safety and quality of life. The author proposes ten theses for traffic regulation and its enforcement, including the following: (1) traffic regulation is acceptable only when a reasonable obedience is assured; (2) traffic rules should be less complicated, provided only for the most essential cases, and punish severely when violated; (3) simplifying the traffic code will fail without the support of other measures for road users and the authorities. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 853605.