A methodology for improving road safety by novel infrastructural and invehicle technology combinations

Abstract

Introduction Still too many deaths and injuries are a result of road safety limitations within Europe. Road safety measures aimed to change the road environment to reduce the risks on driver errors and to reduce the seriousness of the effects of driver errors are expected to increase road safety. A suitable combination of new technologies with existing infrastructure, or with limited improvements of it, may lead to much more cost-effective solutions (Brookhuis et al. 2006). The In-Safety project was aimed at determining which safety measures are expected to be most effective and in the project also evaluations were performed in pilot sites and modeling laboratories. Methods The methodological approach for the selection and prioritization of the initial set of safety measures is presented and discussed, based on an accident analysis. First, the general approach is described, then the method is presented including the definition of a scenario, how accident statistics are used as a starting point, the generation of safety measures, and the method of selection of safety measures. Finally, the AHP multicriteria analysis method, involved in the final prioritisation of the selected safety measures is presented briefly. Results and conclusion The methodology proves to be appropriate for generating and evaluating self explaining road environment measures and forgiving measures, but safety measures in the urban environment were underrepresented, due to stakeholders’ preferences.