SWOV is a private organisation and the centre point of road safety research in The Netherlands.
SWOV was founded in 1962, as a result of a joint initiative by the Minister of Transport and
private national organisations (insurers, vehicle industry, touring club).
SWOV has a staff of seventy people, among them forty researchers and consultants.
In the 34 years since its foundation, SWOV has conducted or commis-sioned numer-ous studies,
published over one thousand papers and organised many meetings and confer-ences.
SWOV's goal is to contribute to road safety by means of scientific research, consultancy
and dissemination of knowledge. Its activities cover all aspects and areas of road safety.
SWOV is in command of road safety knowl-edge for The Netherlands, helps the Ministry of
Transport to design research projects, contracts research to other research institutes and
carries out scientific research itself. The work applies to the international and nation-al,
as well as to the local and regional level. The results and know-how are spread among
policy-making bodies, scientists - in order to exchange research results and methods -
and institutions and persons charged with road safety. Aside from activities in the field of
research, SWOV is also commis-sioned with the transfer and diffusion of knowledge, data and
experi-ences in the field of road safety, both at national and international level.
Rene Mathijssen (1949) has worked at SWOV since 1975, first as a scientific editor but
since 1986 as a researcher in the fields of driving under the influence of impairing substances
(alcohol, drugs and medicines) effects of police enforcement on road user behaviour,
cost-effectiveness of medical air services, analyses for road safety policy and the cost of
the road toll.
Marjan Hagenzieker (1962) studied Psychology at the University of Leiden.
In 1999 she got her PhD on the thesis "Rewards and road user behaviour ".
Since 1987 she has worked at SWOV as a researcher/research manager in the fields of
road user behaviour, visual perception and attention, rewarding road users for safe
traffic behaviour, accident studies and workzone safety.. At present she is head of the
Behaviour, Decision Making and Analysis Department. Marjan Hagenzieker is participant
in several international (EU) projects.
Paul Wesemann studied Law and Criminology and got his masters degree in 1970.
Since 1977 he has worked at SWOV as a researcher, Head of Department, and programme leader
in the fields of evaluation research, cost-benefit analysis, accident studies and behavioural
countermeasures.
