Member of VETA. Why? Who? How?

VETA Homepage

VETA - Why? Who? How?

VETA is a non-profit society
for Safety Research
by Traffic Professionals

På svenska

Updated
for Explorer
Dec. 21, 1996:
Web-guide

The Swedish acronym
Vetenskap och
Erfarenhet i
Trafiksäkerhets-
Arbetet

VETA means
Science and
Experience in
Traffic safety
Work

Accidents are unintentional like diseases.
Prevent them accordingly!

plasmalinje

In the Swedish VETA research society we support drivers
by providing knowledge on specific hazards
rather than blame for speeding or bad driving in general

Traffic safety development like in medical research & health care

During the last century, it has become self-evident that scientific Research and Development in medicine should be carried out by professional practitioners. In November 1993, a non-profit society was established in Sweden with the same objective for traffic safety R&D.

VETA is a forum with seminars and activities open to anybody who wants to contribute (not only members). Relevant problems and effective solutions are often discovered when scientific guidance is given to research interested police officers (many seminars have been arranged at the National Swedish Police College, PHS), driving teachers, vehicle and tyre engineers, many other traffic professionals, or just experienced drivers.

Several R&D projects have been initiated by VETA, resulting in grants to our members of some million Swedish crowns (1million SEK = 150 000 US dollars) the first two years since November 1993, when VETA was founded at the National Swedish Police College. VETA has not charged any percentage of these funds to the society itself.

We have no hardware and no employees, so far. We want to avoid turning into another 'institute', where full-time researchers become isolated from everyday traffic experience. We also strive for in(ter)dependence by asking many and different companies for financial contributions to specific projects or objectives.

Interdependent information
and practitioners' knowledge on traffic safety

Very few web-sites may be found today with truly interdependent traffic safety information. The Internet services by NHTSA seem unique. Still, I believe that not even governmental organisations (such as the VTI, which was my former workplace) have access to research interested traffic practitioners from trade and industry.

In many countries, these experts are met with suspiciousness and their knowledge is neglected due to their affiliation.

See page 343 in publication ISBN 0 947719 54 7 (26th ISATA proceedings, 1993). Parts of the paper may be posted on the web in due course (check out the VETA Homepage or come back here for a link). If you have experienced such problems or if you expect reprisals against yourself, you may report (anonymously if you like) to VETA ombudsman.

Upon request, any member of VETA may be anonymous to non-members. The list of members is distributed to other members only.
On the other hand, members who like it, may have their Email and personal data posted on a forthcoming VETA webpage, when the webmaster's time allows.

Want to join us in VETA as a personal member? ...
... making YOUR experience and knowledge accessible to scientific research - and vice versa!

The annual fee is SEK 200 for people with mailing address in Sweden.
Otherwise, you have to pay SEK 300 (including SEK 100 for additional postage).
As a member, you will receive all documents (a few in English, but most of them in Swedish) and a list of adresses to other members.
No personal translation service can be provided from VETA. However, you may soon find fellow-countrymen understanding Swedish in the list of members.
Since foreign members have little benefit from the member discount on seminar fees, we may compensate them by a quicker and more complete presence on the VETA webpages.
Example: The link to Phillip C Goodwin at my webpage on how to use Antilock (ABS) Brakes.
Phil decided to join VETA, though he lives far from Sweden in the Rochester, New York area (instructing the Driver Improvement Program for the American Automobile Association).
With our own Email domain we may offer interested members an easy-to-remember Email-address (givenname.familyname@veta.se) which is forwarded by our server to the final destination.
Example: Fritz Lorek, our Swedish-speaking journalist member from Germany, may want to have his Email address to appear as fritz.lorek@veta.se.
Click away a message to Fritz from here and give him some facts on ABS brakes or other issues, useful for a free-lance journalist. You may get valuable information in return.
You may also find it very rewarding to approach Japanese people (whether or not they are members of VETA like Shunji Taniguchi, assistant professor of Sugiyama Jogakuen University).
I am very greatful for my fantastic experiences in December 1994, when I was invited on scholarship basis to Tokyo by the National Research Institute of Police Science, NRIPS.
Additional Internet features may be developed by VETA and its members faster than we have time to update this webpage. Therefore, you should check out regularly the links from the VETA Home page until ...
... you have decided to join the VETA researcher network by submitting relevant data on yourself and (IMPORTANT) your full mailing address to register@veta.se (further instructions will be posted on the VETA website).

Sponsors and Corporate Members

The Corporate Members of VETA provide unconditional support with their annual fee SEK 4000, which give them the same rights and favours as one (1) personal member. However, they may switch representative from time to time at their own choice.
According to a VETA Board decision in June 1996, a corporate member will be offered space for a separate webpage at the VETA site (space limits and requirements are being discussed).

Are you interested in being a Sponsor of VETA activities or would you like to join us as a Corporate Member?
Then, you should contact somebody in the VETA Board.