The Workshop How to reduce the number of traffic accidents by 50% during 3 years Integration of Road Safety Audit in the road design process and other road safety related issues Kristian DUUS JASPERS Regional Office for Central Europe, Vienna

Contents of this presentation: 1. Some key figures to underline the importance of road safety in road investment programmes 2. Tools and their impact 3. The principles of road safety audit (RSA) 4. Institutional integration of RSA in road agencies 5. Examples and illustrations 6. Impact of RSA on accident reduction

Why focus on Road Safety Audit in the Operational Programme Transport ?

4 4 The OP for economic growth in Lithuania 2007 – 2013 Priority Axis 5 :  66 km of new motorways  315 km new and rehabilitation in total Key figures Objective 4: Reduction of accident rates

5 5 The Economic Cost of Road Accidents in Lithuania 2010: Economic losses amounts to 1.32 billion Litas (382 M EUR) Approximately 1% of national GDP Key figures

6 6 Traffic distribution 80 % of all traffic on 20% of the road network motorways & national roads Major roads projects a key target Key figures

7 7 per mill. inhabitants, EU 2009 Key figures Lithuania 2009: : 92

8 Key figures Percentage change in road accident fatalities during Source:

9  The number of fatal and serious accidents is falling in Lithuania  Very well, but can we explain why? Key figures

10  Better roads?  Better cars?  Safer design?  Speed bump  Street lights  Roundabouts  Etc…….  More law enforcement?  Better education? Key figures

11 Tools and their impact  Indeed a mixture of several actions and developments  It is important to know which medicine works – to continue and improve the cure!  Road Safety Audit is a tool proven to yield positive cost effective results

12 Means of road safety interventions  Enforcement: speed, alcohol, seat belt etc.  Improving vehicle safety  Implementing ITS on roads (intelligent transport systems)  Education in schools  Road safety audit  Accident data collection and processing (very essential to decide targeted actions)  Black Spot projects  Information campaigns (TV, bill boards..) Tools and their impact

13 EC Road Safety Directive 2008/96/EC  Applicable on TEN-T road network  Art. 3, road safety impact assessment  Art. 4, road safety audit  Art. 5, safety ranking (black/grey spots)  Art. 6, safety inspections  Art. 7, Accident data management (fatalities)  Art. 9, RSA curricula adopted by 19 Dec  Art 14, transposition, 19 Dec Tools and their impact

14 Inspections and audits Tools and their impact Road Safety Inspections & Ranking of existing roads Accident investigations and safety surveys Used as a cure on existing road network to improve road safety based on safety performance Road Safety Audit on new roads A focussed independent safety check applying accumulated experience on road safety Used as prevention in design of new infrastructure or in case of rehabilitation works

15 Tools and their impact  Lithuania is already advancing fast in improving road safety  There is an growing experience among various experts and practitioners  Many actions related to RSA have already been done in the past

16 Safety inspections and ranking  Through accident records traffic police and road authority know where the critical spots and sections are  Black spots and sections are identified and analysed  Solutions are found by road authority & police in cooperation with other institutions

17 Safety inspections and ranking  Implementation according to resources  Monitoring and follow-up  Enforcement, education and information  State, regional and district level

18 Safety inspections and ranking European Road Assessment Programme EuroRAP International Road Assessment Programme IRAP

19 Safety inspections and ranking

20 Safety inspections and ranking Accident data processing and management

Road Safety Audit

22 What is RSA – a definition  A formal systematic road safety assessment of a road scheme carried out by an independent, qualified auditor who reports on the project’s accident potential for all kinds of road users Elvik & Sørensen 2007 “Put on your blinkers!”

23 How to introduce RSA in the national system Based on the Danish Manual of RSA 1. Organisation 2. Procedure 3. Project Phases 4. Training of Auditors

24 Organisation (1) Client – Designer – Auditor Define and divide the responsibilities between the three parties prior to RSA How to introduce RSA

25  The Client – owner of the road infrastructure e.g LRA  The Designer – responsible for planning, design, launch of RSA, and response to RSA report  The Auditor, carries out an independent critical safety review of the project Organisation (2) How to introduce RSA

26 Organisation (3) Client = highway authority or municipality Designer = HA design dept. or consultant Auditor = HA safety dept. or consultant How to introduce RSA

27 1 The RSA procedure

28 2 Ordering – Reviewing - Completion  The designer orders the review  The auditor examines the project and reports to the designer (Check list)  The designer responds to the RSA report  The auditor declares the RSA complete The RSA procedure

29 Designer Auditor Client 3 Ideal relationship between the three parties The RSA procedure

30 Defining the stages 1. (Pre) feasibility study, planning 2. Preliminary design 3. Detailed design 4. Opening 5. Monitoring (road safety inspections) RSA can be carried out at any of these five stages!! How to introduce RSA

31 Training (1) 1. Set up the training curricula for road safety auditors 2. Training Institution: the existing institute for continuing professional development in the road sector the road engineering faculty at the universities The National Road Safety Council other How to introduce RSA

32 Training (2) Candidates for RSA training: Road engineers and planners with at least 3-5 years of practical experience from road authority or road consultancy 2-3 years of experience with road safety analysis How to introduce RSA

33 Training (3) Course duration for experienced trainees: 1-2 weeks intensive course Course duration for trainees with limited road safety experience To be assessed individually How to introduce RSA

34 Benefits of Road Safety Audits  Safety risks for different user groups are identified (cars, pedestrians, bicycles)  Expensive reconstruction can be avoided if RSA is done already at design stage  Reduces socio-economic cost caused by accidents  Improves design quality through structured discussions between planners

35 Example of RSA (Phase 1) remarks and recommendations

36 Project example - any problems?

37 Project example - new four leg junctions

38 Examples of RSA recommendations  Make roundabouts when appropriate

39 Examples of RSA recommendations  or staggered junctions

40 Project example – Stage 5

41 Project example – Stage 5

42 Examples of RSA recommendations  Provide rumble strips on road edge – to alert road users

43 Examples of RSA recommendations  Guard rails

44 Any safety problems?

45 Maybe!

46 A solution - provide side barriers

47 Examples: Speed calming measures

48 Cost of road safety audit (average)  Up to 4% of road design cost  Approx. 0,25% of construction cost  Construction: 50 M EUR  Constrution with RSA: 50,1 M EUR

49 Impact of RSA on accident rates (1)  Denmark, 13 projects, >25 accidents saved per year, additional project cost due to RSA was 1,2%  Germany, RSA may prevent up to 70% of all accidents on newly constructed roads

50 Impact of RSA on accident rates (2)  UK, Surrey County, compared 38 projects of which RSA was carried out on half of them: With RSA – 60% drop in casualties without RSA – 10% drop in casualties  USA, road safety inspections and follow-up improvements on existing roads led to % reduction of accidents

51 State-of-the-art road safety approach: Self-explanatory and forgiving roads  If a road explains itself, the road user will drive as appropriate  If an accident occurs, the road should be forgiving, i.e. aim at reducing the impact of the error as much as possible

52 Self explanatory ?

53 Self explanatory ?

54 Self explanatory ?

55 Forgiving road side?

56 Conclusions: It is important and relevant to carry out road safety audit on road projects in Lithuania:  The accident frequency on Lithuanian roads is high, however declining  The social and human cost of accidents are very high  The investments in new roads are substantial  Road Safety Audit has proven to be a cost effective method to improve road safety, especially when applied in the design phase

57 Safe journey !!

58 Key Information Sources for this presentation:  European Campaign for Safe Road Design  European Road Assessment Programme  Baltris  EU Road Safety CARE,  International Transport Forum incl. IRTAD  Global Road Safety Partnership  Bundesanstalt für Strassenwesen, BASt, node.html?__nnn=true  The Handbook of Road Safety Measures, Elvik a.o.2009