1. Road Safety Tools for Road Authorities African Development Bank Abidjan
October 2016
Nazir Alli

2. +/- 750 000 km Overview Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility
Pillar 4: Safe Road User
Pillar 5: Post-Crash Responses

3. +/ km

4. National Road Network
The +/ km represents only 2.9 % of the km of RSA network
but carries 33,1% of all traffic, and
more than 70% of all long distance road freight.

5. Road Safety Status in South Africa
2009: Fatalities
Drivers: 4 066
Passengers:
Pedestrians: 4 678
Pedestrian 34%
Drivers 30%
Passengers 36%
Contributory Factors to Crashes
Vehicle Factor 9%
Human Factor 83%
Road & Environmental 8%

6. SANRAL Road Safety National Road Network
World Class Road Infrastructure
High Design Standards incorporates safety features
Rural 2-lane
Major Freeways

7. SANRAL Road Safety National Road Network
Routine Road Maintenance Contracts
Every meter of the National Road Network is covered
Daily route patrols
Grass Cutting, Fence repairs, removal of debris, etc
Pothole: 48 hour turnaround
Ensure a safe environment for road users 14

8. Accommodating the needs of all our road users
SANRAL Road Safety
Key Road Safety Challenges
Different types and needs of road users
Vulnerable Road Users
Accommodating the needs of all our road users

9. Schools and Built up areas < 2 km from the R61
E.g. R61 Eastern Cape
Schools and Built up areas < 2 km from the R61

10. National Road Network Safe Systems Approach
Massive Infrastructure Investment
Role of Infrastructure in Road Safety is proven
UN Decade of Action : Global Plan
Safe Systems Approach

11. Safe Systems Approach
Despite all efforts to prevent crashes, road users will remain fallible and crashes will occur.
Safe System approach is to ensure that in the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury.
It stresses that those involved in the design of the road transport system need to accept and share responsibility for the safety of the system, and those that use the system need to accept responsibility for complying with the rules and constraints of the system.

12. Role of System Designers
Safe Systems Approach
Role of System Designers
Rules and Constraints
Human Error versus Human Fault
Compliant Society
Road Safety Competes on a Hierarchy of Social Needs
What is the reality?
Infrastructure supporting better road user compliance

13. “Conventional Road Safety Engineering Thinking”
Human Factors
93%
Vehicle Factors
13%
Road Environment Factors
34%

14. Important Role of Infrastructure

15. Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility
Engineering interventions guided by Leading Fatal and Serious Injury Crash Types
Vulnerable Road Users Specifically Pedestrians
Vehicular Crashes
Intersections
Head on collisions
Single vehicle (run off road type)

16. Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility
Engineering Priorities: Pedestrians
Genuine need for pedestrians to cross or travel along major routes.
Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians
Poorest of the poor - Captive Road Users
Poor land use planning resulting in unsafe desire lines

17. The Case for Pedestrians
Genuine need for pedestrians to cross or travel along major routes.
Vulnerable Road Users
Captive Road Users - Poorest of the poor
Poor land use planning resulting in unsafe desire lines

18. Retrofit existing infrastructure A Safer Place to Walk
After
Before
In some cases the road space can be shared by modifying the road environment.

19. Retrofit existing infrastructure A Safer Place to Cross

20. Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility
Road Network Assessment
Method to determine road safety risk - mitigate
Network Level Tool
Overcome limited accurate crash data available
Inform where to intervene and invest
Highest Return for our Road Safety Investment
Develop a Model that other Road Authorities can use

21. Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility
NetSafe©
Identify and prioritize locations where road safety improvements and/or interventions are likely to be most effective
Locations for further investigations
Further safety investigations must be undertaken at a particular site in order to:
To identify appropriate safety improvements
Cost efficiency of safety improvements
Other remedial measures such as Road safety education and awareness, and traffic law enforcement, that could compliment engineering/infrastructure interventions

22. Risk Index Ri = RL + ∑ RP ∆ L NetSafe© Where:
Ri = Risk index per km road length
RL = Risk index related to length-based factors (per km)
RP = Risk Index related to point-based factors (e.g. intersections)
∆L = Length of section road (e.g. 10 m)

23. RL = FS x RLO X F1L X F2L ..... RP = FS x RPO X F1P X F2P .....
NetSafe©
RL = FS x RLO X F1L X F2L .....
Where:
RL = Risk index related to length based factors
FS = Adjustment factor for accident severity
RLO = Baseline risk index per km road length
F1L, F2L = Length based accident factors
RP = FS x RPO X F1P X F2P .....
Where:
RP = Risk index related to point based factors
FS = Adjustment factor for accident severity
RPO = Baseline risk index per point
F1P, F2P = Point based accident factors

24. Road Safety Education Programme
Road Safety in Schools
Integrated with Road Safety Infrastructure Projects in Communities
Road Safety not part of the Curriculum
However, it can be a Theme to a Lesson, e.g. English, Mathematics
With the permission of the DOE, we train and resource Educators at selected schools

25. Safe Routes to School Project
How it works?
Competition Format
Each school is represented by a group of Grade 10 learners
Basic Research Skills
Identify a road safety concern within their community
Research the road safety problem
Identify a solution
Present and motivate why their solution is the best

26. Safe Routes to School Project
Fierce competition and very high standards
Judging Panel comprised Road Safety Engineers and Professionals
All 4 Finalist road safety proposals refined and implemented

27. Use of Technology Background
- Historically Road Authorities focused only on infrastructure to meet growing traffic needs
- Shift towards Network - Management and Operations
- Technology to Optimize use of the Network
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Freeway Management System (FMS)

28. How does FMS works ? Real –time traffic data CCTV Surveillance
Information is processed
FMS Operations Centre
Information Dissemination

29. Emergency Services dispatched Traffic flow back to normal
Benefits of FMS
Minimise Road
User Costs
Reduce length of Incident Timeline
Life
Death
Accident happens
---
Traffic flow
disrupted
Accident reported
Emergency Services dispatched
Arrive on scene
Leave scene
Traffic flow back to normal
Incident Timeline

30. Real Time Information Dissemination
Responded to > 800 incidents on the freeways
Extensively used for event planning
Major Events, e.g. SWC, Air Show
Road / Lane Closures, (Athlone Cooling Towers Demolition / Construction)

31. Engineering / Infrastructure
Interventions
Engineering / Infrastructure

32. Conclusion Role of Rod Safety Audits
- Proactive means of ensuring provision of road infrastructure, that is more forgiving, self-explaining, meets the needs of all road users.
- Promotes a culture of road safety among Designers
- Promoting Safe System Philosophy
> Maximise the safety of the road system
> Special emphasis on high risk issues (fatal and serious injury crashes)

33. Thank You !