Case study: Veilig Verkeer Nederland (Organisation for road safety)
Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) is an association that has been actively working on road safety since 1932. To address dangerous traffic situations, VVN has established a national reporting center supported by over 20 traffic experts. Cyclomedia's software and imagery have become indispensable for these traffic experts to work efficiently.
Every report can easily be reviewed from behind a desk, enabling advice to be provided much faster. Visiting the location itself is now unnecessary in many cases. Cyclomedia thus enables time savings of up to 40 percent and also ensures substantial savings on travel costs.
Promoting road safety
Four years ago, VVN came into contact with Cyclomedia thanks to an insurer. Since then, Cyclomedia has made its visual material available free of charge as a social contribution. As a non-profit organization, this gives VVN the financial leeway to increase attention to road safety. An important part of this is the VVN Participation Point, where residents can report unsafe traffic situations in their residential area via www.participatiepunt.vvn.nl . Traffic experts then review the situation and issue recommendations to improve safety around the critical point. This recommendation can then be submitted as a proposal to the relevant municipality or other authority.
Accelerated handling of reports
Of the approximately five thousand reports received annually by the VVN Participation Point, about half concern traffic situations that encourage excessive speed, but issues such as obstruction of visibility by trees or bushes, or incorrectly set traffic lights, also occur.
Upon receipt of a report, a traffic expert examines the problem location using Cyclomedia software. In the case of visibility obstruction caused by vegetation, for example, historical footage can be reviewed via Street Smart to track the development of trees and shrubs, providing additional insight into the current situation. To assess dangerous streets, intersections, and roundabouts, the most recent Cycloramas are primarily used. This allows the current situation to be evaluated from various viewpoints, contributing to the formation of expert advice. Furthermore, the measurement capabilities within aerial photographs and Cycloramas make it possible to determine the width of road sections, the distance between trees, and the locations of crossing points. The high quality of the images also allows them to be directly incorporated into reports for municipalities, for instance. As a result, physically visiting the locations is often no longer necessary, which quickly leads to a time saving of 40 percent.
Communication and advice
Not only does the high quality of the images offer added value for VVN, but the many uses of Street Smart also facilitate the processing of reports. Because views can be shared, for example, communication with road authorities and municipalities runs much more smoothly, as everyone has the same view. Thanks to the ease of use and quality, expert work can be delivered quickly from the desk, allowing more reports to be handled and more advice to be provided in a shorter time.
What once began with a flag demonstration along the side of the road to make motorists aware of their speed has since grown into an association that actively involves road users throughout the country in various ways to encourage good traffic behavior. In recent years, VVN has also made extensive use of Cyclomedia products. Street Smart and the various types of visual material made accessible within it make a significant contribution to VVN's mission: creating safe traffic for all road users.
The imagery from Cyclomedia and the user-friendliness of Street Smart make it possible to quickly arrive at recommendations for improving road safety.
