Abstract
Abstract
Road safety is one of the key elements of every citizen’s life. Every day journeys connected with professional and educational activity force us to do a trip, and this leads to inevitable conflicts between road users. One of the basic methods of assessing the state of road safety, and the effects of legal, educational and infrastructural activities of authorities, are the results of road incidents analyses, accidents and collisions, as well as the effects of these activities in previous years. Police databases carried out in most countries on a continuous basis, store records of road incidents in which Police officers intervened. Undoubtedly the speed is one of the most important element affecting the number and consequences of road incidents. High speed reduces the time necessary for the driver to react correctly to the traffic situation. The high speed increases the momentum, and thus the effects of road accidents. Changes in the scope of speed control of vehicles in Poland, including those entitled to do it, introduced 3 years ago, could significantly affect the state of road safety in Poland, on the network of urban and non-urban roads. This paper presents the results of road safety analyses for both nationally and more locally road networks - for the biggest cities in Poland. Based on the analysis of data from the Police’s database records, it has been shown that since the introduction of legal changes, the number of road incidents on the road network has increased significantly. It also indicates unfavourable trends in the area of road safety in cities. Based on the above analyses the need for action to introduce a new program for road safety improvement, especially at the level of urban areas, is indicated.