In Slovenia, the traffic safety in recent years has improved significantly, especially after the construction of the Slovenian motorway cross. Meanwhile, several main and regional roads have been reconstructed or resurfaced, several bypass roads have been built and several intersections have been reconstructed into roundabouts.
Road safety and reduction in casualties are improving from year to year. Other contributing factors to this reduction include safer cars, increased awareness of drivers and partly the financial crisis, which has reduced the amount of traffic volumes on many roads due to saving and high fuel costs. Furthermore, stiffer penalties for violations of traffic regulations and a number of preventive measures also contributed to the safety improvements. All the factors together have a positive impact on traffic safety trends. It is very difficult to quantify the value of each factor on any particular road or section. Certain measures have short-term benefits, whilst others have a lasting impact on road safety. Often there are two or more safety measures being implemented at the same time, so that the effect of any single measure is often virtually impossible to identify or predict.
The master thesis is concerned with assessing the impact of financial investments on traffic safety of the main and regional roads in Slovenia. My hypothesis is that the number of traffic accidents is directly related to the amount of funds that are invested in a road or section.
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