The first of EuroRAP’s Lunchtime seminar, which took place on 9 November 2021, attracted 75 registrations from 35 different countries from all over the world. During the seminar we focused on the ‘RAP basics’ and learned about Crash Risk Mapping on the examples from the United Kingdom (UK) and Croatia.

EuroRAP Lunchtime seminar #1: Introduction (see the Chapter markers)

Brian Lawton from the UK’s Road Safety Foundation first explained the difference between the Crash Risk Mapping and Star Rating. He described the process undertaken and how the network has been selected in Great Britain. He provided an overview of results and explained how Crash Risk Mapping has helped progress road safety in Great Britain. The results played an important role in the development of the £100 million Safer Roads Fund. The 50 highest risk local authority ‘A’ roads in England received funding, and these projects were developed and implemented with the last few remaining schemes being finalized now. Brian described the importance of using the data to help road authorities make the case for investment in road safety. Watch Brian’s presentation below.

Brian Lawton: Crash Risk Mapping in Britain (EuroRAP Lunchtime seminar #1) (see the Chapter markers)

Marko Sevrovic from the European Institute of Road Assessment and Faculty of Traffic and Traffic Sciences at the University of Zagreb showcased the Crash Risk Mapping work in Croatia. The first risk mapping was done in 2011 and was supported by the EuroRAP’s member Croatian Autoclub (HAK). Crash risk maps, which can be used for comparison of the roads inside the country and between countries, are quite easy to understand. The color-coded system from green to black shows which roads are the most and which are the least safe. Crash risk mapping together with the Star rating is the driving force behind the Safe Road Investment Plan. Marko presented the work done in Croatia in the framework of the recently finished SLAIN project and the work on D8 Split-Omiš road. For more details and to see how to interpret the risk mapping and star rating results, you are invited to watch Marko’s presentation.

Marko Sevrovic: Crash Risk Mapping in Croatia (EuroRAP Lunchtime seminar #1) (see the Chapter markers)

The showcased examples of Crash Risk Mapping from both countries hopefully inspired the seminar participants to start similar projects also in their countries. EuroRAP is happy to support Crash Risk Mapping initiatives. You are invited to reach out to our Management Committee for more information. For countries outside of Europe, feel free to get in touch with International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP).

EuroRAP’s next online seminar on 7th December 2021 at 1 pm CET is a research and innovation hot topic event on AiRAP led by Monica Olyslagers who is iRAP’s Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist. Register HERE. 

EuroRAP’s Lunchtime seminar series provides information about the EuroRAP protocols through the ‘RAP basics’ online seminars, insight into iRAP research and innovation through our ‘Hot topic’ seminars, and inspiration for EuroRAP programmes through our ‘National schemes spotlight’ seminars. Along with a national schemes’ forum, these three seminar types will be presented in rotation giving us food for thought every month. The virtual seminar series is aimed at all EuroRAP partners and other interested parties – from automobile clubs to road authorities, to researchers.