De toedracht van dodehoekongevallen en maatregelen voor de korte en lange termijn : een ongevallenanalyse over de jaren 1997-2007, verkeersobservaties en enquêtes onder fietsers en vrachtautochauffeurs + Bijlagenrapport.

SWOV has studied the circumstances of blind spot crashes and has looked for solutions and measures that can reduce the number of blind spot crashes. One of the reasons for this study was a discussion in Dutch Parliament about the blind spot issue. The design and the realization of the study were closely tuned with the Ministry of Transport. Elaborate consultations were also held with other interested parties. The Netherlands has been struggling with the blind spot issue for many years now: serious crashes involving lorries turning right and cyclists going straight ahead. In the last decades, the European Union has introduced several measures for lorries to prevent this type of crash: in the 1980s the close proximity mirror (Class V in Directive 2003/97/EC) was made compulsory, and side underrun protection in 1995. In 2003, the Netherlands was first to introduce the wide angle mirror (Class IV in Directive 2003/97/EC); Denmark and Belgium followed a year later. This measure was specifically intended for countries with many cyclists. The Netherlands still counts an average of 15 fatalities per year despite these measures. Although the numbers of fatalities showed a temporary considerable reduction in the years 2002 and 2003, this study shows that this was the case for all crash types involving both lorries and cyclists. This may however be due to the general attention for crashes involving lorries when the wide angle mirror was introduced, and not be caused by the mirror itself. Each blind spot crash causes social unrest because of the severity of the crash and the notion that there must be ways to prevent this type of crash. The study is based on analyses of serious blind spot crashes in the period 1997-2006, and on police reports from the years 2006 and 2007. The detailed crash data from the police reports were supplemented with survey data acquired from surviving cyclists and lorry drivers who had been involved in blind spot crashes. Traffic observations were also made at the locations were these crashes had occurred. Both groups of road users were interviewed to gain insight in the way cyclists and lorry drivers deal with the blind spot problem in daily practice. In addition, the everyday traffic situation was observed and, in the cab, the lorry drivers' actual behaviour was studied. This repor