Road Infrastructure Safety Management Research Articles

Top causes of road traffic accidents in Romania

Abstract Road accidents worldwide impose a significant burden on national budgets, particularly affecting the least developed countries. According to the latest WHO “Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023,” road fatalities are the leading cause of death among young people aged 5 to 29. Among the European Union countries, Romania has the highest mortality rate. Between 2011 and 2021, approximately 2.8% to 1.1% of Romania’s GDP represented the social costs caused by road accidents. Statistical analysis of serious road accidents in Romania during this period reveals five main causes responsible for at least 50% of the total deaths recorded on the national public road network. The most significant cause is “speed not adapted to road conditions,” accounting for approximately 19% of the total. A road accident occurs due to the action or interaction of three determining factors: human, vehicle, and road (road environment). In most cases, the blame for road accidents is attributed to human error or behaviour. This conclusion is often influenced by data collection methods that do not consider all the influences of road infrastructure on the accident’s dynamics. A closer analysis shows that road infrastructure deficiencies often influence or cause road accidents, highlighting the importance of continuous evaluation and improvement of infrastructure to reduce accident risk. The implementation of Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management has prompted authorities to pay particular attention to infrastructure deficiencies in fatal accidents. During 2018-2021, following road safety inspections, auditors provided police and road administrators with detailed reports on deficiencies that caused or favored fatal accidents. Processing and analysing these reports can form the basis for developing a statistical model that provides a unified approach to road infrastructure deficiencies. This model can set up best practices for road safety, contributing to the uniform treatment of infrastructure problems found by auditors. With the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1936, which amends Directive 2008/96/EC, through Romanian Government Ordinance no. 3/2022, an innovative approach to managing road infrastructure deficiencies has been introduced. At the EU level, emphasis is placed on finding main road sections with low safety levels. Specific inspections are directed towards road sections with multiple risks, and remedial measures will focus on cost-effective solutions to enhance safety. Continuous evaluation and improvement of road infrastructure are crucial for reducing accident risk. By addressing deficiencies contributing to serious accidents, authorities can create safer road environments. This proactive approach involves detailed inspections and thorough data analysis to find and rectify potential hazards. The goal is to set up a system that not only responds to accidents but also prevents them by mitigating infrastructure risks. In conclusion, road safety management needs a multi-faceted approach that integrates human, vehicle, and road factors. By implementing directives and conducting rigorous inspections, authorities can significantly reduce road accidents. The development of a statistical model from inspection data will systematically address deficiencies, leading to safer roads and reduced fatalities, highlighting road safety as a public health issue.

Proactive safety assessment of urban through-roads based on GPS data

Road safety is a worldwide issue, while urban roads account for a high share of serious road injuries, especially involving vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians or cyclists. Specifically, the safety of major roads through built-up areas (through-roads) is insufficient due to mixed traffic conditions including vulnerable road users, varying driving behaviour, and many disruptions, which are combined with excessive speed.. In this context, various traffic calming measures have been implemented to improve road safety, such as gateways or pedestrian refuge islands. However, the specific safety impacts of traffic calming combined with specific characteristics of through-roads are often unknown, since most traditional evaluations have been limited by small sample sizes of crash data, as well as wide variations in physical and road characteristics. To overcome the limitations of crash-based evaluations, we used the GPS-based data from a sample of 21 Czech and 12 Polish through-roads to develop the Speed-Safety Index, which combines speed, speed variance, and traffic volume. Our study has three novelty features: (1) To assess safety, we used speed and speed variance simultaneously. (2) To complete the missing link between specific traffic calming measures and safety, we validated the statistical relationship between the developed Speed-Safety Index and crash history. (3) To prove the usefulness of the developed index, we also showed its practical interpretation by proving the effect of spacing between traffic calming measures on safety. The index proved to be well correlated to crash frequency and it also proved the effect of spacing between traffic calming measures: the longer spacing, the smaller speed-reducing effect. The paper concludes with a discussion on the limitations, which we plan to address in further research, by moving from the current macro-perspective (Speed-Safety Index on the level of through-roads) to the micro-perspective (focusing on individual directions, locations, and traffic calming measures). We also plan to investigate the method’s applicability in different contexts. If the approach proves feasible, with reliable and valid results, it may become an alternative for a proactive network-wide road assessment, as called for by the European Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive.

Mega-Events: Assessing Road Safety through an Operating Framework. An Application for the Milano–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games

To meet the United Nations and European Union goals of reducing road crash fatalities and injuries, it is also relevant to address the negative externalities due to mega-events on the road network and the local communities, to assess the safety of the road network involved, and to implement appropriate measures for different road environments. Despite their relevance, the literature often overlooks social costs and risks associated with mega-events. This study presents an operating framework for rapidly assessing the safety of the Milano–Cortina 2026—“Via Olimpica” road—which will host a significant proportion of the traffic during the Winter Olympic Games in 2026. The framework proposes a simplified Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) to address the unique challenges posed by the limited time available for screening and implementation by local authorities. The framework integrates four data sources and follows a seven-step procedure. It provides recommendations for improving road safety by identifying critical road sections and blackspots. Road authorities, practitioners, and public administrations may all benefit from the framework, as it makes it easier to prioritise safety improvements within time constraints.

Road safety impact assessment practices and recommendations

Abstract This article reviews the practices for conducting Road Safety Impact Assessment (RIA). An overview of current research and methodologies related to this field is presented, and various aspects of the preparation of RSIA are analysed. The DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on road infrastructure safety management (RISM Directive) defines the procedure “road safety impact assessment” as a strategic comparative analysis of the impact of a new road or a substantial modification to the existing network on the safety performance of the road network”; The RISM Directive provides only the basic framework for conducting such analysis by just pointing out its basic elements without providing specific methodology for it. Some countries have developed their own methodologies, others not. Although the RIA is a procedure, that was included in the initial RISM Directive (2008), Bulgaria has not yet had much experience with it, nor has a developed methodology or recommendations for it. The main aim of this article is to review and analyse international experience in conducting road safety impact assessment and to present some recommendations about it for such procedures from national teams. The article draws attention to the methods and tools used in the preparation of the RIA. This includes the collection and analysis of road infrastructure and traffic data, the study of previous safety analyses, modelling and simulations of the proposed measures, and the assessment of social and economic aspects. One of the main aspects discussed in the article is the possibility of using computer models and artificial intelligence (AI) in the preparation of the RIA. AI can be applied to process large volumes of data and perform complex risk and scenario analyses. This allows practitioners to obtain more accurate and predictable results to serve as a basis for making informed road safety decisions. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the importance of preparing Road safety impact assessment and presents different practices and methodologies that can be used in this process. The use of computer models and AI can improve the efficiency and accuracy of RSIA and contribute to achieving higher standards of road safety.

Road Infrastructure Safety Management: Proactive Safety Tools to Evaluate Potential Conditions of Risk

The identification of highly critical sections in a road network is possible by examining the network operation, with the goal of determining the risk factors and observe the critical issues, in order to better plan possible improvements.Therefore, this study proposes a method to evaluate the coherence of existing road layouts, through the analysis of the geometric characteristics, theoretical speeds and drivers operating speeds, under different environmental and flow conditions.The analysis focuses on the road network managed by ANAS SpA in the Veneto Region, for which the reconstruction of the road axes geometry, the curvature graph and the theoretical design speed profile have been obtained, according to the indications of the Italian Ministerial Decree 05/11/2001. The theoretical design speed profile has then been compared with the information relating to the road users’ mobility, in terms of the 85th percentile speeds, obtained from the extraction and analysis of the Floating Car Data (FCD). The data were processed by reconstructing the continuous profile of operating speeds with a specific regression function known as “smoothing cubic spline”. The comparison with the theoretical design speeds allows to observe whether the users assume a behavior close to or distant from what is expected, based on the technical and geometrical characteristics of the road layout.The proposed methodology can contribute to the implementation of a proactive road safety check, aimed at recognizing and assessing the potential risk conditions for road traffic, with particular attention to the point of view of the road user.

Safety Index for evaluation of urban roundabouts

Recently, there is a growing interest in road safety assessments based on the examination of the characteristics of the road aimed at identifying the presence of risk factors. This approach, named road assessment program or network wide road safety assessment, is required by the EU Directive 2019/1936 on road infrastructure safety management. Reliable procedures for assessing the inherent safety of all the elements of the road network are required to conduct roadway safety assessments. To provide a contribution toward the development of procedures for network wide road safety assessment, this paper develops and validates a Safety Index (SI) for evaluating urban roundabouts. The SI is assessed both at the roundabout level as well as at the roundabout approach level. This procedure detects the safety issues that are the largest contributors to crash risk in order to identify the safety measures that provide the greatest crash reduction at roundabouts. The SI is formulated by combining two components: the exposure of road users to road hazards (Exposure) and the risk factors which increase the probability of involvement in crashes (Risk Index). The procedure considers 33 detailed safety issues and 5 general safety issues to compute the Risk Index. Criteria for identifying and ranking the safety issues are defined.The SI procedure was validated in a sample of 50 urban roundabouts located in Rome, Italy. The sample consisted of 12 single-lane roundabouts and 38 two-lane roundabouts, with a total number of approaches equal to 179. In these roundabouts, the SI scores and the EB crash estimates were compared with reference both to the whole roundabouts as well as to the single roundabout approaches. The correlation between the SI scores and EB estimates was highly significant both at the roundabout level (R2 = 0.85, t = 16.49, p-value < 0.001) as well as at the approach level (R2 = 0.56, t = 14.88, p-value < 0.001). The results from Spearman's rank-correlation analysis provided further validation for the SI indicating that rankings from the SI and the EB estimates agree at the 99.9 % confidence level both at the roundabout level (ρs = 0.80) as well as at the approach level (ρs = 0.70).

A Straightforward Framework for Road Network Screening to Lombardy Region (Italy)

It is not possible to deal with sustainable mobility without considering road safety as a key element: Target 3.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims at halving the number of road deaths by 2030. To do so, further effort and effective tools are required for road authorities, to implement improvement measures and enhance road safety for all. Road network screening (RNS) is the first step of the whole Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) System process. It is applied to a wide scale to assess the safety performance of the whole road network and identify the worst performing roads (or sites). The literature is quite rich with RNS models and methods, which have greatly improved, recently. Moreover, although many national frameworks on road safety have been issued over time, some barriers remain, specifically related to data quality, such as accurate crash location, which is mainly used to integrate crash data with other databases. In addition, most of these frameworks adopted partial indexes to identify black spots and presented results using fixed maps for visualization. This paper fills these gaps by the proposal of a straightforward operational framework to perform RNS, based on a simple and flexible rationale to integrate raw crash, traffic, and road data. Specifically, the framework: (i) manages crash location data, without relying on plane or geographical coordinates, which are missing or inaccurate and still are a crucial issue in many European countries such as Italy; (ii) adopts an adjusted accident cost rate index that integrates frequency and severity of crashes as well as a measurement of exposure; (iii) introduces variable maps that show the results at different jurisdiction levels. A relevant case study demonstrates the usefulness of this framework using 30,000+ crash data of the whole non-urban road network of the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy). Road authorities could adopt this framework to perform an accurate safety screening on the overall regional road network. Moreover, this framework could be implemented in a road traffic safety managerial system to better prioritise safety interventions within a tight budget and help achieve sustainable development targets.

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ БУДІВЕЛЬНИХ НОРМ ДЛЯ ЯКІСНОГО ПРОЄКТУВАННЯ І БУДІВНИЦТВА АВТОМОБІЛЬНИХ ДОРІГ

Abstract Introduction. This article considers the issue of modernization of the regulatory and technical base of the road sector in the design and construction of streets and roads of settlements and public roads (hereinafter - highways) on the basis of analysis of existing regulations, regulations, technical literature, which refers to the objects of regulation and, of course, taking into account the requirements dictated by today's safety and environmental protection. The work concerns the basic building codes for the design and construction of roads, namely those innovations that have already been approved and are planned to be put into operation in the near future. Problem statement. Implementation of a common technical policy in road construction, ensuring their reliability and durability, increasing the efficiency of capital investments, implementing the provisions of Directive 2008/96 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Road Infrastructure Safety Management, harmonizing international and European standards, implementing scientific and technical standards achievements of science and advanced domestic and world experience in the practice of design and construction, saving material, labor, financial and energy resources, improving design solutions, construction quality, occupational safety and health, rational use of land, other natural resources and environmental protection, encourages the continuous improvement of state building codes, as fundamental documents for the design and construction of roads. Objective. The main documents governing the requirements for the design and construction of roads, namely DBN B.2.3-4: 2015 "Roads. Part I. Design. Part II. Construction ", which were republished in 2015 and DBN B.2.3-5: 2018" Streets and roads of settlements ", republished in 2018, taking into account the current traffic intensity, increased requirements for the load on pavement, safety requirements and environmental protection, as well as the development of regulatory and technical framework, developed appropriate changes and additions. In order to reveal and detail their essence, effectiveness and purposefulness, the relevant material developed in this article has been developed. Materials and methods. The presented work is based on analytical, practical and theoretical research related to standardization requirements for the design and construction of streets and roads of settlements and public roads. Results. Amendments to the state building norms have been developed, which set requirements for the design and construction of streets and roads of settlements and public roads, taking into account modern design requirements, the latest materials and technologies. Conclusions. The requirements set out in the developed amendments to the state building codes for the design and construction of streets and roads of settlements and public roads are internal indicators. They are formed by complex analytical and practical calculations from many variables and unknowns, numerous public meetings and legal meetings, long-term coordination with central executive bodies, there are complex expert verification of the basic organization that implements scientific activities in construction and approval. Huge amounts of statistics and the best world and domestic experience were used to achieve the end result. Based on the results of the work performed, the most optimal requirements have been established, the main requirements that regulate the principles of design and construction of high-quality roads in Ukraine according to modern European standards. Keywords: building norms, public highways, streets and roads of settlements, design of highways, construction of highways, changes to building norms.

Uso de ambientes virtuais para vistorias técnicas em auditoria e inspeção de segurança viária: um estudo de caso em trecho rural de rodovia duplicada

Vistorias técnicas são atividades necessárias em procedimentos do Gerenciamento de Segurança da Infraestrutura Viária (GSIV). Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o uso de ambientes virtuais para realizar vistorias técnicas para o GSIV, especialmente em Auditoria de Segurança Viária (ASV) e Inspeção de Segurança Viária (ISV). Dois grupos de auditores realizaram vistorias de segurança em um trecho rodoviário seguindo métodos diferentes, um grupo por meio de visitação a campo padrão e o outro, pelo procedimento proposto, que emprega realidade virtual (RV). Os resultados foram comparados e testados estatisticamente, e não confirmaram haver diferenças significativas entre os grupos, indicando o potencial de realização de vistorias empregando RV. O uso do procedimento proposto poderá trazer contribuições em termos de segurança dos auditores, ampliação do potencial da ASV pela possibilidade de realizar vistorias virtuais nas fases de projeto e, no futuro, com a redução de custos por visitas a campo.

Development of road infrastructure safety management system according to updates of EU Directive 96/2008/EC

The traditional approach to the analysis of traffic accidents has mostly involved identifying omissions in vehicles and drivers, which led to the occurrence of a traffic accident. However, more recent EU directives dealing with this area emphasize infrastructure failures that may be the real cause of the accident. This approach refers to preventive action, ie the design of such infrastructure that will, in case of failure of the driver, "forgive" the driver his mistake and prevent the occurrence of a traffic accident or reduce the consequences of a traffic accident. To achieve this, a completely new approach to the problem is needed, ie to build, reconstruct and regenerate the road infrastructure according to its real function from the aspect of traffic safety. The realization of these concepts in our area implies primarily the education of all entities that have contact with road infrastructure (designers, managers, auditors, etc.), with emphasis on the fact that savings on the material are significantly less than the savings achieved by reducing the number of accidents, with injured faces and fatalities.

New EU requirements for road infrastructure development

The current situation is considered on the development of safe and secure parking areas for trucks in Europe. The reports of the International Road Transport Union were analyzed on the European Union-funded project on Safe and secure truck parking areas for trucks in Europe and a final report on the study of safe and secure places for truck parking in the EU. The analysis of European regulations is carried out on road infrastructure safety management, specification of truck parking zones, rules of working time and rest of the driver, as well as Ukrainian legislation on these issues. Recommendations for possible measures to improve the legislation of Ukraine are provided in terms of establishing the SSTPA in view of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

АСПЕКТИ СТВОРЕННЯ БЕЗПЕЧНИХ І НАДІЙНИХ ЗОН ПАРКУВАННЯ ВАНТАЖНИХ ТРАНСПОРТНИХ ЗАСОБІВ У ЄВРОПІ, ЇХ ВПЛИВ НА БЕЗПЕКУ ДОРОЖНЬОГО РУХУ ТА ДОТРИМАННЯ СОЦІАЛЬНИХ УМОВ

The current situation is considered on the development of safe and secure parking areas for trucks in Europe. The reports of the International Road Transport Union were analyzed on the European Union-funded project on Safe and secure truck parking areas for trucks in Europe and a final report on the study of safe and secure places for truck parking in the EU. The analysis of European regulations is carried out on road infrastructure safety management, specification of truck parking zones, rules of working time and rest of the driver, as well as Ukrainian legislation on these issues. With a view to provide a consistent definition of secure truck parking areas and a quality framework, an EU-wide rating system and security and service at SSTPAs has been defined during the study that included participation by all key stakeholders within the road transport and logistics sector. This rating system should now be implemented as a standard by a newly created EU expert group. The quality of the entire system and of the individual secure truck parking areas shall be guaranteed by ensuring that independent third party audits will occur for all secure truck parking areas within the system. In the future this quality system could also link to ITS solutions for the road transport sector. The implementing the study results in both existing truck parking areas and in new truck parking areas and thereby increasing the number of available secure parking areas throughout Europe, there is a strong probability that cargo crime and incident rates will be reduced significantly and that the security and well-being of truck drivers will be improved, thereby benefitting road safety as well. Recommendations for possible measures to improve the legislation of Ukraine are provided in terms of establishing the SSTPA in view of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement provisions. Keywords: road safety, freight road transport, Safe and secure truck parking areas (SSTPA), EU Mobility package, driving and rest time rules of driver, Ukraine – EU Association Agreement.

Road Safety Assessment Considering the Expected Fatal Accident Density

Network-wide road safety assessment throughout the whole network is one of the four road infrastructure safety management procedures regulated by Directive 2019/1936/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 Аmending Directive 2008/96/EC on Road Infrastructure Safety Management and one of the methods for determining the direction of investment in road safety. So far, the implementation of the procedure has been lightly regulated and adapted using various road safety indicators. The paper describes the evaluation of road accident data that is one of the criteria for conducting a network-wide road safety assessment. Taking into consideration that networkwide road safety assessment is a proactive road safety activity, the paper proposes to conduct road safety assessment considering the expected fatal accident density. Such assessment makes it possible to assess the severity of accidents, and the use of the predicted road accident data on calculating the introduced road accident rate contributing to the prevention of accidents. The paper describes both the empirical Bayes method for predicting road accidents and the application of one of the road safety indicators – the expected fatal accident density – to determine five road safety categories across the road network. The paper demonstrates the application of the proposals submitted to Lithuanian highways using road accident and traffic data for the period 2014–2018.

Inkluzivni menadžment bezbjednosti infrastrukture puteva u naselju - pristup za unapređenje bezbjednosti ranjivih učesnika u saobraćaju

In the last ten years, there has been a stabilization of traffic fatalities on the roads of the world. At the same time, the death toll of persons in the armor of vehicles was reduced, and the death toll of persons outside the armor of vehicles-vulnerable road users continued to grow. The most endangered are motorcyclists, then pedestrians and finally cyclists, both in developed countries of the European Union and in underdeveloped and developing countries. Lagging behind in reducing the fatalities of vulnerable road users requires innovation in research and the creation and implementation of new road safety management policies. In this aspect, inclusive road infrastructure safety management in the settlement can be a paradigm for the introduction and implementation of protection of vulnerable road users, persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities, through procedures to control road safety in the settlement, at all stages of the road life cycle: planning, design, construction and exploitation. The content of inclusive road infrastructure safety management in the settlement should include all areas of activity and all elements of the roads of the settlement, the improvement of which can raise the level of traffic safety of all users, so that the roads of the settlement are equally safe for all road users. At the same time, the risk of fatal traffic accidents on the roads of the settlement is indirectly exponentially related to the scope of the content of inclusive road infrastructure safety management in the settlement.

Accident data analysis and on-field inspections: do they lead to similar conclusions?

Network Safety Ranking and Road Assessment Programme (RAP) are two procedures used in road infrastructure safety management to rank the road sections of a network according to estimated road safety performance. The former uses indicators based on road accidents and their consequences while the latter method is based primarily on inspections of the road infrastructure.The aim of this study was to verify whether there is a relationship between the indicators used within these methods, in order to evaluate if and under which conditions RAP scores contribute to the prediction of accident numbers. The adopted approach is based on the calibration and analysis of a wide array of models in order to reproduce the observed events – injury road accidents, fatalities and injuries - with reference to different aggregations of the original data and in the two reference situations: with and without EuroRAP (European Road Assessment Programme) indicators.. From the obtained results, the introduction of the EuroRAP indicators ends up making the models that explain the frequency of accidents more convincing from a statistical point of view. These indicators, which summarise the road safety performance of a road section, could prove useful in replacing the covariates (e.g. presence of intersections, geometrical and functional features of roads) that are used in the calibration of accident prediction models. However, it should be stressed that not all types of accident are addressed by the EuroRAP approach, and this may represent a limitation for those roadways where such kind of accidents are frequently observed, like rear-end collisions on motorways. Probably, by including these accident types, the explanatory power of the EuroRAP variables would increase, at least on motorways.

Addressing education and training needs of road safety auditors

According to national (Greek) and European legislation on road infrastructure safety management, road safety auditing is mandatory for the Trans-European Road Network. This paper presents the devel...

The use of GIS tools for road infrastructure safety management

There are many factors that influence accidents and their severity. They can be grouped within the system of man, vehicle and environment. The article focuses on how GIS tools can be used to manage road infrastructure safety. To ensure a better understanding and identification of road factors, GIS tools help with the acquisition of road parameter data. Their other role is helping with a clear and effective presentation of risk ranking. GIS is key to identifying high-risk sections and supports the effective communication of safety levels. This makes it a vital element of safety management. The article describes the use of GIS for the collection and visualisation of road parameter data which are not available in any of the existing databases, i.e. horizontal curve parameters. As we know from research and statistics, they are important factors that determine the safety of road infrastructure. Finally, new research is proposed as well as the possibilities for applying GIS tools for the purposes of road safety inspection.

Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Poland

The objective of road safety infrastructure management is to ensure that when roads are planned, designed, built and used road risks can be identified, assessed and mitigated. Road transport safety is significantly less developed than that of rail, water and air transport. The average individual risk of being a fatality in relation to the distance covered is thirty times higher in road transport that in the other modes. This is mainly because the different modes have a different approach to safety management and to the use of risk management methods and tools. In recent years Poland has had one of the European Union’s highest road death numbers. In 2016 there were 3026 fatalities on Polish roads with 40,766 injuries. Protecting road users from the risk of injury and death should be given top priority. While Poland’s national and regional road safety programmes address this problem and are instrumental in systematically reducing the number of casualties, the effects are far from the expectations. Modern approaches to safety focus on three integrated elements: infrastructure measures, safety management and safety culture. Due to its complexity, the process of road safety management requires modern tools to help with identifying road user risks, assess and evaluate the safety of road infrastructure and select effective measures to improve road safety. One possible tool for tackling this problem is the risk-based method for road infrastructure safety management. European Union Directive 2008/96/EC regulates and proposes a list of tools for managing road infrastructure safety. Road safety tools look at two criteria: the life cycle of a road structure and the process of risk management. Risk can be minimized through the application of the proposed interventions during design process as reasonable. The proposed methods of risk management bring together two stages: risk assessment and risk response occurring within the analyzed road structure (road network, road stretch, road section, junction, etc.). The objective of the methods is to help road authorities to take rational decisions in the area of road safety and road infrastructure safety and understand the consequences occurring in the particular phases of road life cycle. To help with assessing the impact of a road project on the safety of related roads, a method was developed for long-term forecasts of accidents and accident cost estimation as well as a risk classification to identify risks that are not acceptable risks. With regard to road safety audits and road safety inspection, a set of principles was developed to identify risks and the basic classification of mistakes and omissions. This work has added to the Polish experience of preparing and implementing such tools within the competent road authorities.

Joint road safety operations in tunnels and open roads

The objective of the ECOROADS project is to overcome the barrier established by the formal interpretation of the two Directives 2008/96/EC and 2004/54/EC, which in practice do not allow the same Road Safety Audits/Inspections to be performed inside tunnels. The projects aims at the establishment of a common enhanced approach to road infrastructure and tunnel safety management by using the concepts and criteria of the Directive 2008/96/CE on road infrastructure safety management and the results of related European Commission (EC) funded projects. ECOROADS has already implemented an analysis of national practices regarding Road Safety Inspections (RSI), two Workshops with the stakeholders, and an exchange of best practices between European tunnel experts and road safety professionals, which led to the definition of common agreed safety procedures. In the second phase of the project, different groups of experts and observers applied the above common procedures by inspecting five European road sections featuring both open roads and tunnels in Belgium, Albania, Germany, Serbia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This paper shows the feedback of the 5 joint safety operations and how they are being used for a set of - recommendations and guidelines for the application of the RSA and RSI concepts within the tunnel safety operations.

Tools for road infrastructure safety management in poland

Road safety can be improved by implementing principles of road safety infrastructure management (RIS) on the network of European roads as adopted in the Directive. The document recommends that member states should use tried and tested tools for road safety management such as: road safety impact assessment (RIA), road safety audit (RSA), safety management on existing road networks including road safety ranking (RSM) and road safety inspection (RSI). The objective of the methods is to help road authorities to take rational decisions in the area of road safety and road infrastructure safety and understand the consequences occurring in the particular phases of road life cycle. To help with assessing the impact of a road project on the safety of related roads, a method was developed for long-term forecasts of accidents and accident cost estimation as well as a risk classification to identify risks that are not acceptable risks. With regard to road safety audits and road safety inspection, a set of principles was developed to identify risks and the basic classification of mistakes and omissions.