Effect of a Motorway on Development of Accidents in a Big City

Abstract

Traditional transport practice and science call motorways as safe roads since the accident rate (accidents per 1 million vehicle kilometres) is lower than on ordinary roads. This is based on the scientific inadmissible comparison. Similar, but not comparable things, are compared: the accident situation of two different kinds of transport systems, which are basically different not only in its construction elements, but also in operation condition, their environments and the composition of their users. All of them are different. To compare, comparability is a necessary precondition. If we take this into consideration we can recognize, that the existing contradiction between accident-research-results and physics can be removed. Systems with a higher speed have a higher risk. But these facts are continuously neglected by traditional educated practitioners: they cling to their myths. One of them is “Since the number of accidents per kilometer driven on motorways is less than on other roads, motorways are safer roads.”