Road-traffic safety
Encyclopedia
As sustainable solutions for all classes of road have not been identified, particularly lowly trafficked rural and remote roads, a hierarchy of control should be applied, similar to best practice Occupational Safety and Health. At the highest level is sustainable prevention of serious injury and death crashes, with sustainable requiring all key result areas to be considered. At the second level is real time risk reduction, which involves providing users at severe risk with a specific warning to enable them to take mitigating action. The third level is about reducing the crash risk which involves applying the road design standards and guidelines (such as from AASHTO), improving driver behaviour and enforcement.
Background
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
and injury prevention
Injury prevention
Injury prevention are efforts to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by external mechanisms, such as accidents, before they occur. Injury prevention is a component of safety and public health, and its goal is to improve the health of the population by preventing injuries and...
problems. The problem is all the more acute because the victims are overwhelmingly healthy prior to their crashes. According to the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO), more than a million people are killed on the world’s roads each year. A report published by the WHO in 2004 estimated that some 1.2m people were killed and 50m injured in traffic collisions on the roads around the world each year and was the leading cause of death among children 10 – 19 years of age. The report also noted that the problem was most severe in developing countries and that simple prevention measures could halve the number of deaths.
The standard measures used in assessing road safety interventions are fatalities and Killed or Seriously Injured
Killed or Seriously Injured
Killed or Seriously Injured is a standard metric for safety policy, particularly in transportation and road safety.-United Kingdom definitions:...
(KSI) rates, usually per billion (109) passenger kilometres. Countries caught in the old road safety paradigm, replace KSI rates with crash rates - for example, crashes per million vehicle miles.
Vehicle speed within the human tolerances for serious injury and death is a key goal of modern road design because impact speed affects the severity of injury to both occupants and pedestrians. For occupants, Joksch (1993) found the probability of death for drivers in multi-vehicle accidents increased as the fourth power of impact speed (often referred to by the mathematical term δv ("delta V"), meaning change in velocity). Injuries are caused by sudden, severe acceleration (or deceleration), this is difficult to measure. However, crash reconstruction techniques can be used to estimate vehicle speeds before a crash. Therefore, the change in speed is used as a surrogate for acceleration. This enabled the Swedish Road Administration to identify the KSI risk curves using actual crash reconstruction data which lead to the human tolerances for serious injury and death referenced above.
Interventions are generally much easier to identify in the modern road safety paradigm, whose focus is on the human tolerances for serious injury and death. For example, the elimination of head on KSI crashes simply required the installation of an appropriate median crash barrier. For example, roundabouts, with speed reducing approaches, encounter very few KSI crashes.
The old road safety paradigm of purely crash risk is a far more complex matter. Contributing factors to highway crashes may be related to the driver (such as driver error, illness or fatigue), the vehicle (brake, steering, or throttle failures) or the road itself (lack of sight distance, poor roadside clear zones, etc.). Interventions may seek to reduce or compensate for these factors, or reduce the severity of crashes that do occur. A comprehensive outline of interventions areas can be seen in Management systems for road safety
Management systems for road safety
-Paradigms:Progress in the area of prevention is formulated in an environment of beliefs, called paradigms as can be seen in the next table. Some of them can be refereed as professional folklore, i.e. a widely supported set of beliefs with no real basis...
.
Interventions for the prevention of road traffic injuries are often evaluated; the Cochrane Library
Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organisations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interpret the...
has published a wide variety of reviews of interventions for the prevention of road traffic injuries.
For road traffic safety purposes it can be helpful to classify roads into ones in built-up area, non built-up areas and then major highways (Motorways/Freeways etc.) Most casualties occur on roads in built-up areas and major highways are the safest in relation to vehicle mileage. Reported Road Casualties Great Britain for 2008 show that the vast majority of injuries occur in built-up areas but that most fatalities occur on non built-up roads.
| Road Type | Killed | Serious injury | Slight injury | total injury | ref | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non Built-up (excludes motorways) | 1,323 | 8,342 | 48,810 | 58,475 | 52% of the total killed, 32% of total seriously injured, 25% of total with slight injuries | |
| Built-up | 1,057 | 16,823 | 143,079 | 160,959 | 42% of the total killed, 65% of total seriously injured, 70% of total with slight injuries | |
| Motorway | 158 | 869 | 10,444 | 11,471 | 6% of the total killed, 3% of total seriously injured, 5% of total with slight injuries. Fatalities on motorways have decreased by 9 per cent since 1994-98 in a period with traffic levels increased by 28%" | |
| All casualties | 2,538 | 26,034 | 202,333 | 230,905 | ||
Built-up areas
Traffic calming
Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...
can be a tool for road safety. Shared space
Shared space
Shared space is an urban design concept aimed at integrated use of public spaces. It encourages traffic engineers, urban planners and experts from other fields to consult with users of public space when planning and designing streets and squares in both built and non-built environments...
schemes, which rely on human instincts and interactions, such as eye contact
Eye contact
Eye contact is a meeting of the eyes between two individuals.In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and...
, for their effectiveness, and are characterised by the removal of traditional traffic signals and signs
Traffic sign
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...
, and even by the removal of the distinction between carriageway (roadway) and footway (sidewalk), are also becoming increasingly popular. Both approaches can be shown to be effective.
Modern safety barriers
Safety barriers
A safety barrier is a component which prevents access to a dangerous area. In an industrial system, it is a guard such as a fence or window, designed to keep the operator away from moving parts or other hazards. It is commonly used to mitigate risk in the Hazard-Barrier-Target model, as studied in...
are designed to absorb impact energy and minimize the risk to the occupants of cars, and bystanders. For example, most side rails are now anchored to the ground, so that they cannot skewer a passenger compartment, and most light poles are designed to break at the base rather than violently stop a car that hits them. Some road fixtures such as road signs and fire hydrants are designed to collapse on impact. Highway authorities have also removed trees in the vicinity of roads; while the idea of "dangerous trees" has attracted a certain amount of skepticism, unforgiving objects such as trees can cause severe damage and injury to any errant road users.
Most roads are cambered (crowned), that is, made so that they have rounded surfaces, to reduce standing water and ice, primarily to prevent frost damage but also increasing traction in poor weather. Some sections of road are now surfaced with porous bitumen to enhance drainage; this is particularly done on bends. These are just a few elements of highway engineering
Highway engineering
Highway engineering is an engineering discipline branching from civil engineering which involves the design, construction and maintenance of Highway Systems. Highway Engineering become prominent towards the latter half of the 20th Century after World War 2. Standards of highway engineering are...
. As well as that, there are often grooves cut into the surface of cement highways to channel water away, and rumble strips at the edges of highways to rouse inattentive drivers with the loud noise they make when driven over. In some cases, there are raised markers between lanes to reinforce the lane boundaries; these are often reflective. In pedestrian areas, speed bumps are often placed to slow cars, preventing them from going too fast near pedestrians.
Poor road surfaces can lead to safety problems. If too much asphalt or bitumenous binder is used in asphalt concrete, the binder can 'bleed' or flush' to the surface, leaving a very smooth surface that provides little traction when wet. Certain kinds of stone aggregate
Construction Aggregate
Construction aggregate, or simply "aggregate", is a broad category of coarse particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined material in the world...
become very smooth or polished under the constant wearing action of vehicle tyres, again leading to poor wet-weather traction. Either of these problems can increase wet-weather crashes by increasing braking distances or contributing to loss of control. If the pavement is insufficiently sloped or poorly drained, standing water on the surface can also lead to wet-weather crashes due to hydroplaning.
Lane
Lane
A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...
markers in some countries and states are marked with Cat's eyes
Cat's eye (road)
The cat's eye is a retroreflective safety device used in road marking and was the first of a range of raised pavement markers. It originated in the UK in 1933 and is today used all over the world....
or Botts dots
Raised pavement marker
A raised pavement marker is a safety device used on roads. These devices are usually made with plastic, ceramic, or occasionally metal, and come in a variety of shapes and colors. Many varieties include a lens or sheeting that enhance their visibility by reflecting automotive headlights...
, bright reflectors that do not fade like paint. Botts dots are not used where it is icy in the winter, because frost and snowplows can break the glue that holds them to the road, although they can be embedded in short, shallow trenches carved in the roadway, as is done in the mountainous regions of California.
Road hazards and intersections in some areas are now usually marked several times, roughly five, twenty and sixty seconds in advance so that drivers are less likely to attempt violent manoeuvres.
Most road signs and pavement marking materials
Road surface marking
Road surface marking is any kind of device or material that is used on a road surface in order to convey official information. They can also be applied in other facilities used by vehicles to mark parking spaces or designate areas for other uses....
are retro-reflective, incorporating small glass spheres or prisms to more efficiently reflect light from vehicle headlights back to the driver's eyes.
Designing for pedestrians and cyclists
Pedestrians and Cyclists are among the most vulnerable road users, and in some countries constitute over half of all road deaths. Interventions aimed at improving safety of non-motorised users:- SidewalkSidewalkA sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
s of suitable width for the expected pedestrian traffic - pedestrian crossingPedestrian crossingA pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross. They are designed to keep pedestrians together where they can be seen by motorists, and where they can cross most safely across the flow of vehicular traffic...
s close to the desire line which allow pedestrians to cross roads safely - segregated pedestrian routes and cycle lanes away from the main highway
- Overbridges (tend to be unpopular with pedestrians and cyclists due to additional distance and effort)
- Underpasses (these can pose heightened risk from crime is not designed well, can work for cyclists in some cases)
- traffic calmingTraffic calmingTraffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...
and speed humpSpeed bumpA speed bump is a speed-reducing feature of road design to slow traffic or reduce through traffic, via...
s - low speed limitSpeed limitRoad speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
s that are rigorous enforced, possibly by speed cameras - shared spaceShared spaceShared space is an urban design concept aimed at integrated use of public spaces. It encourages traffic engineers, urban planners and experts from other fields to consult with users of public space when planning and designing streets and squares in both built and non-built environments...
schemes giving ownership of the road space and equal priority to all road users, regardless of mode of use - pedestrian barriers to prevent pedestrians crossing dangerous locations
Pedestrians' advocates question the equitability of schemes if they impose extra time and effort on the pedestrian to remain safe from vehicles, for example overbridges with long slopes or steps up and down, underpasses with steps and addition possible risk of crime and at-grade crossings off the desire line. The Make Roads Safe
Make Roads Safe
Make Roads Safe is a global road safety campaign established with the aim of securing political commitment for road traffic injury prevention around the world....
was criticised in 2007 for proposing such features. Successful pedestrian schemes tend to avoid over-bridges and underpasses and instead use at-grade crossings (such as pedestrian crossings) close the intended route. Successful cycling scheme by contrast avoid frequent stops even if some additional distance is involved given that the main effort required for cyclists is starting off.
In Costa Rica 57% of road deaths are pedestrians, however a partnership between AACR, Cosevi, MOPT and iRAP
IRAP
IRAP can refer to several things:*The International Road Assessment Program*The medical treatment using Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein*Insulin responsive aminopeptidase...
has proposed the construction of 190 km of pedestrian footpaths and 170 pedestrian crossings which could save over 9000 fatal or serious injuries over 20 years.
Shared space
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
s, traffic calming
Traffic calming
Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...
, road signs and road markings, traffic lights, Belisha beacons, pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes etc.) were potentially self defeating because "every nonrestrictive safety measure, however admirable in itself, is treated by the drivers as an opportunity for more speeding, so that the net amount of danger is increased and the latter state is worse than the first."
During the 1990s a new approach, known as 'shared space
Shared space
Shared space is an urban design concept aimed at integrated use of public spaces. It encourages traffic engineers, urban planners and experts from other fields to consult with users of public space when planning and designing streets and squares in both built and non-built environments...
' was developed which removed many of these features in some places has attracted the attention of authorities around the world. The approach was developed by Hans Monderman
Hans Monderman
Hans Monderman was a Dutch road traffic engineer and innovator. He was recognized forradically challenging criteria used to evaluate engineering solutions for street design...
who believed that "if you treat drivers like idiots, they act as idiots" and proposed that trusting drivers to behave was more successful than forcing them to behave. Professor John Adams, an expert on risk compensation
Risk compensation
In ethology, risk compensation is an effect whereby individual people may tend to adjust their behavior in response to perceived changes in risk. It is seen as self-evident that individuals will tend to behave in a more cautious manner if their perception of risk or danger increases...
suggested that traditional traffic engineering measures assumed that motorists were "selfish, stupid, obedient automatons who had to be protected from their own stupidity" and non-motorists were treated as "vulnerable, stupid, obedient automatons who had to be protected from cars – and their own stupidity".
Reported results indicate that the shared space approach leads to significantly reduced traffic speeds, the virtual elimination of road casualties, and a reduction in congestion. Living street
Living street
A living street is a street in which, unlike in most 20th century streets, the needs of car drivers are secondary to the needs of users of the street as a whole. It is a space designed to be shared by pedestrians, playing children, bicyclists, and low-speed motor vehicles...
s share some similarities with shared spaces. The woonerven
Woonerf
A woonerf in the Netherlands and Flanders is a street where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists. The techniques of shared spaces, traffic calming, and low speed limits are intended to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile safety.-By country:In 1999 the Netherlands had...
also sought to reduce traffic speeds in community and housing zones by the use of lower speed limits enforced by the use of special signage and road markings, the introduction of traffic calming
Traffic calming
Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...
measures, and by giving pedestrians priority over motorists.
Major highways
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
s including motorways, freeways, Autobahnen and Interstates are designed for safer high-speed operation and generally have lower levels of injury per vehicle km than other roads.
Safety features include:
- limited access from properties and local roads.
- Grade separated junctionsGrade separationGrade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...
- Median dividersDual carriagewayA dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
between opposite-direction traffic to reduce likelihood of head-on collisions - Removing roadside obstacles.
- Prohibition of more vulnerable road users and slower vehicles.
- Placements of energy attenuation devices (e.g. guard rails, wide grassy areas, sand barrels).
- Eliminating road toll booths
The ends of some guard rails on high-speed highways in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are protected with impact attenuators, designed to gradually absorb the kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
of a vehicle and slow it more gently before it can strike the end of the guard rail head on, which would be devastating at high speed. Several mechanisms are used to dissipate the kinetic energy. Fitch Barriers, a system of sand-filled barrels, uses momentum transfer from the vehicle to the sand. Many other systems tear or deform steel members to absorb energy and gradually stop the vehicle.
In some countries major roads have "tone bands" impressed or cut into the edges of the legal roadway, so that drowsing drivers are awakened by a loud hum as they release the steering and drift off the edge of the road. Tone bands are also referred to as "rumble strips
Rumble Strips
Rumble Strips may refer to:* Rumble strip, the road safety feature* The Rumble Strips, the British band...
", owing to the sound they create. An alternative method is the use of "Raised Rib" markings, which consists of a continuous line marking with ribs across the line at regular intervals. They were first specially authorised for use on motorways as an edge line marking to separate the edge of the hard shoulder from the main carriageway. The objective of the marking is to achieve improved visual delineation of the carriageway edge in wet conditions at night. It also provides an audible/vibratory warning to vehicle drivers, should they stray from the carriageway, and run onto the marking.
Better motorways are banked on curves in order to reduce the need for tire-traction and increase stability for vehicles with high centers of gravity.
An example of the importance of roadside clear zones can be found on the Isle of Man TT
Isle of Man TT
The International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world...
motorcycle race course. It is much more dangerous than Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
because of the lack of runoff. When a rider falls off at Silverstone he slides along slowly losing energy, so minimal injuries. When he falls of in the Manx he impacts with trees and walls. Similarly, a clear zone alongside a freeway or other high speed road can prevent off-road excursions from becoming fixed-object crashes.
The U.S. has developed a prototype automated roadway, to reduce driver fatigue and increase the carrying capacity of the roadway. Roadside units participating in future Wireless vehicle safety communications networks have been studied.
Motorways are far more expensive and space-consumptive to build than ordinary roads, so are only used as principal arterial routes. In developed nations, motorways bear a significant portion of motorized travel; for example, the United Kingdom's 3533 km of motorways represented less than 1.5% of the United Kingdom's roadways in 2003, but carry 23% of road traffic.
The proportion of traffic borne by motorways is a significant safety factor. For example, even though the United Kingdom had a higher fatality rates on both motorways and non-motorways than Finland, both nations shared the same overall fatality rate in 2003. This result was due to the United Kingdom's higher proportion of motorway travel.
Similarly, the reduction of conflicts with other vehicles on motorways results in smoother traffic flow, reduced collision rates, and reduced fuel consumption compared with stop-and-go traffic on other roadways.
The improved safety and fuel economy of motorways are common justifications for building more motorways. However, the planned capacity of motorways is often exceeded in a shorter timeframe than initially planned, due to the under estimation of the extent of the suppressed demand for road travel. In developing nations, there is significant public debate on the desirability of continued investment in motorways.
Motorways around the world are subject to a broad range of speed limit
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
s. Recent experiments with variable speed limits based on automatic measurements of traffic density have delivered both improvements in traffic flow and reduced collision rates, based on principles of turbulent flow analysis.
With effect from January 2005 and based primarily on safety grounds, the UK’s Highways Agency
Highways Agency
The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...
's policy is that all new motorway schemes are to use high containment concrete step barrier
Concrete step barrier
A concrete step barrier is a safety barrier used on the central reservation of motorways and dual carriageways as an alternative to the standard steel crash barrier.The barrier has contained all vehicles up to 13.5 tonnes.-United Kingdom:...
s in the central reserve. All existing motorways will introduce concrete barriers into the central reserve as part of ongoing upgrades and through replacement as and when these systems have reached the end of their useful life. This change of policy applies only to barriers in the central reserve of high speed roads and not to verge side barriers. Other routes will continue to use steel barriers.
30% of highway crashes that occur in the vicinity of toll collection booths in the countries that have them, these can be eliminated by switching to a system of government taxation for road use.
Cars
- Passenger restraints such as seat beltSeat beltA seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
s — often in conjunction with laws requiring their useSeat belt legislationSeat belt legislation requires the fitting of seat belts to motor vehicles and/or the wearing of seat belts by motor vehicle occupants. The U.S. state of Wisconsin introduced legislation in 1961 requiring front seat belt anchorages to be fitted to cars. The Australian state of Victoria mandated...
— and airbagAirbagAn Airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision, to prevent occupants from striking interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window...
s - Crash avoidance equipment such as lights and reflectorsAutomotive lightingThe lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted or integrated to the front, sides, rear, and in some cases the top of the motor vehicle...
- Driver assistance systems such as Electronic Stability ControlElectronic Stability ControlElectronic stability control is a computerized technology that may potentially improve the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go...
- Crash survivability design including fire-retardant interior materials, standards for fuel system integrity, and the use of safety glassSafety glassSafety glass is glass with additional safety features. Designs include:* Toughened glass * Laminated glass* Wire mesh glass...
- Sobriety detectors: These interlocks prevent the ignition key from working if the driver breathes into one and it detects significant quantities of alcohol. They have been used by some commercial transport companies, or suggested for use with persistent drunk-driving offenders on a voluntary basis
Trucks
According to the European Commission Transportation Department "it has been estimated that up to 25% of accidents involving truckTruck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s can be attributable to inadequate cargo securing" http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/vehicles/guidelines_cargo_secruing_en.htm.. Improperly secured cargo can cause severe accidents and lead to loss of cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
, loss of lives, loss of vehicles and can be a hazard for the environment. One way to stabilize, secure and protect cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
during transportation on the road is by using Dunnage Bags which are placed in the void between the cargo and are designed to prevent the load from moving during transport.
Regulation of road users
Various types of road user regulations are in force or have been tried in most jurisdictions around the world, some these are discussed by road user type below.Motor vehicle users
Dependent on jurisdiction, driver age, road type and vehicle type, motor vehicle drivers may be required to pass a driving testDriving test
A driving test is a procedure designed to test a person's ability to drive a motor vehicle. It exists in various forms worldwide, and is often a requirement to pass the exam to obtain a driver's license...
(public transport and goods vehicle drivers may need additional training and licensing), conform to restrictions on driving after consuming alcohol or various drugs
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
, comply with restrictions on use of mobile phones
Mobile phones and driving safety
Mobile phone use while driving is common, but dangerous. Due to the number of accidents that are related to cell phone use while driving, some jurisdictions have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Others have enacted laws to ban handheld mobile phone use, but allow use of a...
, be covered by compulsory insurance
Vehicle insurance
Vehicle insurance is insurance purchased for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise therefrom...
, wear seat belts and comply with certain speed limits. Motorcycle riders may additionally be compelled to wear a motorcycle helmet
Motorcycle helmet
A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life...
. Drivers of certain vehicle types may be subject to maximum driving hour
Tachograph
A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity selected from a choice of modes. The drive mode is activated automatically when the vehicle is in motion, and modern tachograph heads usually default to the other work...
regulations.
Some jurisdictions such as Virginia, U.S. and in Maryland, U.S. are targeting specific regulations such as the prohibiting mobile phone use and limiting passenger numbers at young and inexperienced drivers. It has been noticed that more of these types of serious collision occur at night, when the car has multiple occupants and when seat belt use is less.
Insurance companies have proposed that the following restrictions should be imposed on new drivers: a "curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
" imposed on young drivers to prevent them driving at night, an experienced supervisor to chaperone the less experienced driver, forbidding the carrying of passengers, zero alcohol tolerance, raising the standards required for driving instructors and improving the driving test, vehicle restrictions (e.g. restricting access to 'high-performance' vehicles), a sign placed on the back of the vehicle (an N- or P-Plate
L-plate
An L-plate is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in many countries if its driver is a learner under instruction, or a motorcycle rider with provisional entitlement to ride restricted motorcycles.- Australia :In...
) to notify other drivers of a novice driver and encouraging good behaviour in the post-test period.
Some countries or states have already implemented some of these ideas. Pay-as-you-drive
PAYD
Usage based insurance, also known as pay as you drive and mile-based auto insurance is a type of automobile insurance whereby the costs of motor insurance are dependent upon type of vehicle used, measured against Time, Distance and Place....
adjusts insurance costs according to when and where the person drives.
Pedal bicycle users
Dependent on jurisdiction, road type and age, pedal cyclists may be required conform to restrictions on driving after consuming alcohol or various drugsDriving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
, comply with restrictions on use of mobile phones
Mobile phones and driving safety
Mobile phone use while driving is common, but dangerous. Due to the number of accidents that are related to cell phone use while driving, some jurisdictions have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Others have enacted laws to ban handheld mobile phone use, but allow use of a...
, be covered by compulsory insurance
Vehicle insurance
Vehicle insurance is insurance purchased for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise therefrom...
, wear a bicycle helmet
Bicycle helmet
A bicycle helmet is a helmet intended to be worn while riding a bicycle. They are designed to attenuate impacts to the skull of a cyclist in falls while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision...
and comply with certain speed limits.
Information campaigns
Information campaigns can be used to raise awareness of initiatives designed to reduce road casualty levels. Examples include:- Decade of Action by World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
and Fédération Internationale de l'AutomobileFédération Internationale de l'AutomobileThe Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(2011-2020) - traffic awareness campaigns such as the "one false move" campaign documented by Hillman et al.
- Speeding. No one thinks big of you.Speeding. No one thinks big of you.Speeding. No one thinks big of you. is a multimedia advertising campaign launched in June 2007 in New South Wales, Australia, to convince young drivers that speeding and irresponsible driving is not 'cool'....
(New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 2007) - Road Safety is no Accident World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
- Designated driverDesignated driverThe terms "designated driver" and "designated driving" refer to selecting a person to remain sober, as the driver of a vehicle, while others are allowed to drink to excess . A designated driver is a person who abstains from alcohol on a social occasion in order to drive his/her companions home safely...
campaign, (U.S., 1970s-present) - Click It or TicketClick It or TicketClick It or Ticket is a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration campaign aimed at increasing the use of seat belts among young people in the United States. The campaign relies heavily on targeted advertising aimed at teens and young adults....
, (U.S., 1993–present) - Clunk Click Every TripClunk Click Every Trip"Clunk Click Every Trip" was the slogan of a series of British public information films sponsored by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents , commencing in January 1971 and starring Jimmy Savile. The slogan was introduced during the previous campaign, fronted by Shaw Taylor and...
(UK 1971) - Green Cross CodeGreen Cross CodeThe Green Cross Code is a brand created by the UK National Road Safety Committee to raise awareness of pedestrian road safety in the UK...
(UK 1970–present)
Rating roads for safety
Since 1999 the EuroRAPEuroRAP
European Road Assessment Programme is a non-profit road safety organisation which aims to reduce death and serious injury on Europe's roads...
initiative has been assessing major roads in Europe with a road protection score. This results in a star rating for roads based on how well its design would protect car occupants from being severely injured or killed if a head-on, run-off, or intersection accident occurs, with 4 stars representing a road with the best survivability features. The scheme states it has highlighted thousands of road sections across Europe where road-users are routinely maimed and killed for want of safety features, sometimes for little more than the cost of safety fencing or the paint required to improve road markings.
There are plans to extend the measurements to rate the probability of an accident for the road. These ratings are being used to inform planning and authorities' targets. For example, in Britain two-thirds of all road deaths in Britain happen on rural roads, which score badly when compared to the high quality motorway network; single carriageways claim 80% of rural deaths and serious injuries, while 40% of rural car occupant casualties are in cars that hit roadside objects, such as trees. Improvements in driver training and safety features for rural roads are hoped to reduce this statistic.
The number of designated traffic officers in the UK fell from 15–20% of Police force strength
in 1966 to seven per cent of force strength in 1998, and between 1999 and 2004 by 21%. It is an item of debate whether the reduction in traffic accidents per 100 million miles driven over this time has been due to robotic enforcement.
KSI by country
| Country | Killed per 1 Billion Veh·km (Motorways in 2003) | Killed per 1 Billion Veh·km (Non-Motorways in 2003) | Motorway AADT | Road Travel by Motorway | km/h (mph) Motorway 2003 Speed Limit Speed limit Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
5.9 | 13.4 | 30,077 | 23% | 130 (80) |
 Czech Republic |
9.9 | 34.3 | 25,714 | 11% | 130 (80) |
 Denmark |
3.0 | 11.9 | 29,454 | 25% | 110 (70) |
 Finland |
1.4 | 8.3 | 22,780 | 10% | 120 (75) |
 Early Modern France |
4.0 | 12.8 | 31,979 | 21% | 130 (80) |
 Germany |
3.8 | 12.4 | 48,710 | 31% | none (130 (80) advisory) |
 Republic of Ireland |
7.4 | 11.0 | 26,730 | 4% | 120 (75) |
 Italy |
13.0 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 130 (80) |
 Japan |
4.0 | 11.9 | 26,152 | 9% | 100 (60) |
 Netherlands |
2.1 | 11.7 | 66,734 | 41% | 120 (75) |
 Slovenia |
8.1 | 18.7 | 15,643 | 19% | 130 (80) |
 Spain |
62.3 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 120 (75) |
 Sweden |
2.5 | 9.9 | 24,183 | 21% | 110 (70) |
 Switzerland |
2.8 | 11.8 | 43,641 | 33% | 120 (75) |
 United Kingdom |
2.0 | 9.3 | 85,536 | 23% | 110 (70) |
 United States |
5.2 | 10.7 | 39,634 | 24% | 120 (75) |
definition: AADT - average annual daily traffic. The bi-direction traffic count representing an average 24-hour day in a year. Sometimes called "traffic density" although it ignores or assumes a constant number of travel lanes.
source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) http://cemt.org/IRTAD/IRTADPublic/index.htm, Risk Values in 2003 and ABD and Selected References Values for 2003 -- courtesy of the Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, that is, the (German) Federal Highway Research Institute. Travel was computed by dividing the fatality rate by the number of fatalities; AADT by dividing travel by the length of the motorway network. 2003 speed limits were obtained from the Wiki page and verified with other sources.
Advocacy groups
The Automobile AssociationThe Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
was established in 1905 in the United Kingdom to help motorists avoid police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
speed trap
Speed Trap
Speed Trap is a live jazz album by Peter King, recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in September 1994, and released in 1996 under the Ronnie Scotts Jazz House label...
s. They became involved in other safety issues and also erected thousands of roadside warning signs.
The Pedestrians Association in the United Kingdom was formed in 1929 to press for better road safety. Other groups have been active in other countries.
The International Road Federation
International Road Federation
The International Road Federation is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that promotes the development and maintenance of roads, with a focus on safety and sustainability. The organization has two key functions, providing expertise on road issues to governments and financial...
has an issue area and working group dedicated to road safety. They work with their membership to advocate measures that improve road safety through infrastructure and cooperation with other international organizations.
Motoring advocacy groups including the Association of British Drivers
Association of British Drivers
The Association of British Drivers , founded in 1992, is a British motorists' advocacy group."The Association of British Drivers" is the sole operating name of "Pro-Motor", a company limited by guarantee and registered in the United Kingdom....
(UK), Speed cameras.org (UK), National Motorists Association
National Motorists Association
The National Motorists Association is a grassroots organization whose revenue is membership- and donation-driven. It was created in 1982 to "to represent and protect the interests of North American motorists", and advocates a "Motorist Bill of Rights".-History:The NMA, originally called the...
(USA/Canada) argue that the strict enforcement of speed limits does not necessarily result in safer driving, and may even have negative effect on road safety in general. Safe Speed is a UK group set up specifically to campaign against the use of Speed cameras. The Association of British Drivers also argues that speed humps result in increased air pollution, increased noise pollution, and even unnecessary vehicle damage.
In 1965, Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
put pressure on car manufactures in his book Unsafe at Any Speed
Unsafe at Any Speed
Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, is a book detailing resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety...
detailing resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. The GM President James Roche was later forced to appear before a United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
subcommittee, and to apologize to Nader for the company's campaign of harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
and intimidation
Intimidation
Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was actually frightened.Criminal threatening is the crime of intentionally or...
. Nader later successfully sued GM for excessive invasion of privacy.
RoadPeace
RoadPeace
RoadPeace is the national charity for road crash victims in the UK. It supports the people affected by road crashes with emotional and practical support and advocacy. It operates a help line and provides practical support to people affected...
was formed in 1991 in the United Kingdom to advocate for better road safety and founded World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims takes place on the third Sunday in November every year as the appropriate acknowledgment of victims of road traffic crashes and their families. It was started by RoadPeace in 1993 and was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in...
in 1993 which received support from the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
in 2005.
There is some controversy over the way that the motor advocacy groups has been seen to dominate the road safety agenda. Some road safety activists use the term "road safety" (in quotes) to describe measures such as removal of "dangerous" trees and forced segregation of the vulnerable to the advantage of motorized traffic. Orthodox "road safety" opinion fails to address what Adams describes as the top half of the risk thermostat, the perceptions and attitudes of the road user community.
Criticisms
Some road-safety groups argue that the problem of road safety is largely being stated in the wrong terms because most road safety measures are designed to increase the safety of drivers, but many road traffic casualties are not drivers (in the UK only 40% of casualties are drivers), and those measures which increase driver safety may, perversely, increase the risk to these others, through risk compensationRisk compensation
In ethology, risk compensation is an effect whereby individual people may tend to adjust their behavior in response to perceived changes in risk. It is seen as self-evident that individuals will tend to behave in a more cautious manner if their perception of risk or danger increases...
.
The core elements of the thesis are:
- that vulnerable road users are marginalised by the "road safety" establishment
- that "road safety" interventions are often centred around reducing the severity of results from dangerous behaviours, rather than reducing the dangerous behaviours themselves
- that improved "road safety" has often been achieved by making the roads so hostile that those most likely to be injured cannot use them at all
- that the increasing "safety" of cars and roads is often counteracted wholly or in part by driver responses (risk compensationRisk compensationIn ethology, risk compensation is an effect whereby individual people may tend to adjust their behavior in response to perceived changes in risk. It is seen as self-evident that individuals will tend to behave in a more cautious manner if their perception of risk or danger increases...
).
RoadPeace
RoadPeace
RoadPeace is the national charity for road crash victims in the UK. It supports the people affected by road crashes with emotional and practical support and advocacy. It operates a help line and provides practical support to people affected...
and other groups have been strongly critical of what they see as moves to solve the problem of danger posed to vulnerable road users by motor traffic through increasing restrictions on vulnerable road users, an approach which they believe both blames the victim and fails to address the problem at source. This is discussed in detail by Dr Robert Davis in the book Death on the Streets: Cars and the mythology of road safety, and the core problem is also addressed in books by Professor John Adams, Mayer Hillman
Mayer Hillman
Mayer Hillman is a Senior Fellow Emeritus since 1992 at the Policy Studies Institute, University of Westminster.A qualified architect and town planner, he completed a doctoral thesis on transport, planning and environmental issues in 1970 at the University of Edinburgh.Hillman co-authored a 1990...
and others.
For example; the UK publishes Road Casualties Great Britain
Road Casualties Great Britain
Reported Road Casualties Great Britain , formerly Road Casualties Great Britain and before that Road Accidents Great Britain is the official statistical publication of the UK Department for Transport on traffic casualties, fatalities and related road safety data...
each year detailing reported road fatalities and injuries and claims to have among the best pedestrian safety in Europe with falling injury rates, as measured in pedestrian KSI
Killed or Seriously Injured
Killed or Seriously Injured is a standard metric for safety policy, particularly in transportation and road safety.-United Kingdom definitions:...
per head of population. A study published by the British Medical Journal
British Medical Journal
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
in 2006 suggested that the reduction in injury levels was due to lower levels of reporting not reducing levels of injury as such. Considerable under-reporting was confirmed by a second report prepared for the UK Department for Transport. and the UK government now acknowledges the issue of under-reporting but is not convinced that the reductions in reported injury levels do not reflect an actual decline. Another independent report investigated if the roads were actually sufficiently dangerous as to deter pedestrians from using them at all.
See also
- AAA Foundation for Traffic SafetyAAA Foundation for Traffic SafetyThe AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a non-profit, charitable organization based in Washington, DC that is dedicated to saving lives through traffic safety research and education...
(in the US) - Asia Injury Prevention FoundationAsia Injury Prevention FoundationAsia Injury Prevention Foundation is a non-profit enterprise begun to combat the growing traffic crisis in Southeast Asia...
- EuroRAPEuroRAPEuropean Road Assessment Programme is a non-profit road safety organisation which aims to reduce death and serious injury on Europe's roads...
- Fatality Analysis Reporting SystemFatality Analysis Reporting SystemFatality Analysis Reporting System was created in the United States by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to provide an overall measure of highway safety, to help suggest solutions, and to help provide an objective basis to evaluate the effectiveness of motor vehicle safety...
- ISO 39001ISO 39001The ISO 39001 "Road Traffic Safety Management" is an upcoming ISO standard for a management system for road traffic safety...
- List of countries by traffic-related death rate
- National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationNational Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
- National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety ActNational Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety ActThe National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau...
- Road Casualties Great BritainRoad Casualties Great BritainReported Road Casualties Great Britain , formerly Road Casualties Great Britain and before that Road Accidents Great Britain is the official statistical publication of the UK Department for Transport on traffic casualties, fatalities and related road safety data...
- Traffic signTraffic signTraffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...
- Transportation safety in the United StatesTransportation safety in the United StatesTransportation safety has steadily improved in the United States for many decades. Between 1920 and 2000, the rate of fatal automobile accidents per vehicle-mile decreased by a factor of about 17. Except for a pause during the 1960s, progress in reducing fatal accidents has been steady. Safety for...