On behalf of the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland and Limburg, DOK carried out a road safety assessment (VVB) on the provincial motorways that fall under the European directive RISM-II. This directive obliges member states to periodically test road safety on main roads, including motorways under provincial management. The aim is to structurally improve road safety on the European road network.

An analysis was carried out for all three provinces in which both the physical characteristics of the road and the accident pattern were assessed. This was done on the basis of a scoring methodology developed by DOK and the clients in which road characteristics and traffic accidents are scored between 0 (meets requirements) and 1 (does not meet requirements). The analysis provides a final assessment of road safety per section, distinguishing between high, moderate and low safety.

The method used is based on a combination of national guidelines, traffic engineering expertise and available data on, among other things, directional separation, lane width, obstacles, bicycle crossings and intersections. In addition, data on traffic intensity, speeds and accidents were included to provide a complete picture of the risks on and along the road.

The results of the research have been recorded in separate reports per province. These reports provide a traffic engineering substantiated insight into the current state of the provincial motorways and form an important basis for taking follow-up steps towards a safer road network.