iRAP believes that improving the world’s roads to a 3-star or better standard is a key way to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target of halving road deaths and injuries by 2030.
Raising the standard of the world’s roads to a 3-star or better standard for all road users is helping to focus policy and investment. With crash costs typically halving with each incremental improvement in star rating the potential for 3-star or better roads to save lives is significant.
The global 3-star or better campaign provides decision makers with the knowledge and investment business case to eliminate 1 and 2-star roads and save lives. The independent Fund for Global Health has established the Three Star Coalition to build a group of like-minded organisations advocating for the design and construction of safer roads in the developing world. Specifically they advocate for roads to be built to a minimum 3-star standard for all road users.
Many countries and project managers are now setting targets to increase the percentage of travel on 3-star or better roads and establishing 3, 4 or 5-star standards for new and upgraded roads. The star rating is providing a powerful metric to specify and track road safety performance at the network and project level, just as road authorities set targets for pavement roughness or other asset performance. These objective, evidence-based metrics provide simple, repeatable and realistic targets for countries and organisations to embrace.
Star Rating for all Road Users
Star Rating and Investment Plan inspections create a rich source of data that provides an insight into why road trauma remains one of the world’s leading public health challenges. Based on evidence-based research, Star Ratings for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and vehicle occupants provide an objective measure of the likelihood of a crash occurring and its severity. 1-star is the least safe and 5-star is the safest.
Star Ratings by road user type based on a 358,000km sample of roads across 54 countries:
Why 3 Star or better?
In a perfect world all roads would be 5-Star (i.e. the safest roads) for all groups of road users. 5-star for pedestrians, 5-star for cyclists; 5-star for motorcyclists and 5-star for vehicle and public transport occupants. Although there is an overwhelming financial case for investing in safer roads a 5-Star world for all people on all roads will remain as an aspiration for the future.
While high-volume roads can cost-effectively be raised to a 5-star level, 3-Star or better roads for all road users presents a realistic target for national and regional governments and road authorities to adopt.
Infrastructure upgrades and speed management are the most effective ways to achieve 3-star or better roads for all road users. When investment is not readily available, or is restricted, dramatic improvements can be achieved by a mix of low-cost infrastructure options such as line markings and reductions in speed on the most hazardous sections of the road.
What is Star Rating?
Star Ratings are based on road inspection data and provide a simple and objective measure of the level of safety which is ‘built-in’ to the road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe.
Broadly speaking, every extra star rating results in a halving of crash cost in terms of the number of people who are killed and seriously injured. Importantly, Star Ratings can be completed worldwide, in urban and rural areas and without reference to detailed crash data, which is often unavailable in low-income and middle-income countries, or is sparse in high-performing high-income countries striving for vision zero outcomes.
Star Rating Guide - what makes a road safe? (Graphic included in the 2018 WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety)
Getting started
Where do you want to go with your 3-star or better target?
View Case Studies from around the world.
Who do you think is most at risk on your roads and where?
The World Health Organisation Global Status Report for Road Safety provides a country by country overview of road safety performance, the scale of death and injury and the road users typically killed or injured. More than half of all road deaths typically happen on less than 10% of roads in a country. Targeting these high-risk road sections with focussed targets for each road user is a great place to start.
Some countries produce regularly updated risk maps which give a valuable overview of the most dangerous roads. Risk maps provide a visual presentation of the fatality and serious injury risk per kilometre and per kilometre travelled based on historical crash data.
Improving the star rating on these roads where large numbers are killed and injured provides an immediate focus for star rating policy targets and investment to save lives. In many cases raising high-volume, high-risk roads from 3-star to 4 or 5-star may provide the greatest return on investment. iRAP encourages partners to set targets that ultimately maximise the lives saved within appropriately large budgets - and set minimum 3-star targets for all new projects and road upgrades.
Creating a base-line
A Star Rating analysis assesses the physical condition of road infrastructure and based on evidence-based research a star rating for all road users is produced. The star rating takes into account the specific road attributes that impact safety for the individual road user groups (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and vehicle occupants). Identifying the network to be targeted and undertaking a base-line survey is a great place to start. With knowledge of the existing performance of the road network, appropriate targets and investment levels can be explored to ensure an informed and achievable target.
iRAP recommends the highest volume 10% of roads is assessed in each country - noting volumes of each relevant road user group as required (e.g. high-volume pedestrian precincts; cycling or motorcycling routes).
RECOMMENDED STAR RATING TARGETS
Leading road agencies have experience in setting star rating targets and the common approach now is to set a target for existing roads in terms of the percentage of travel at 3-star or better. This encourages a sensible focus initially on the higher volume roads for each road user group.
For all new roads, no one can afford for a new one or two star to be built. Minimum 3-star targets are the starting point, and standards should be raised to 4 and 5-star where the investment return is high or ambitions are high.
EXISTING ROADS
"X"% of travel on 3-star or better roads by "year" for existing road networks
(e.g. 90% of vehicle travel on 3-star or better roads by 2025; 100% of pedestrian travel on 3-star or better roads by 2030)
NEW ROADS OR UPGRADES
4-star or better standard for each road user when volumes are greater than 'X' and
3-star or better standard for all road users on all new road projects
(e.g. 4-star or better for vehicles on all roads carrying 50,000 vehicles or more; 4-star for pedestrians on all roads in commercial districts, around schools or within 1km of a public transport stop)
The UN Secretary General's report (A/370/86 - September 2015) recommends that member states should "improve infrastructure, including by targeting the highest volume 10% of existing roads and set appropriate infrastructure star rating targets for all relevant road users and adopting minimum three-star standards and road safety audits for all new road construction"
Use our 3-star or better resources to support your local leadership or advocacy to adopt a 3-star or better target.
If you need local language versions please let us know and we will help you.
INCENTIVISING ROAD SAFETY PERFORMANCE
Competitive tendering means that road builders sometimes say they “can’t afford to build safer roads” or that the road is safe as it has been “designed in accordance with the standards”. New roads are often mistakenly assumed automatically to be safer roads. In fact we know that new roads are still being built to a less than 3-star or better standard effectively locking in high levels of road deaths long into the future.
You can counter this argument with hard statistics that show that 3-star or better roads make sound financial sense. For each star rating improvement crash costs on roads are typically halved. The road safety 'extras' are often a small (<5%) proportion of the total road project, with returns of investment 5-10 times or more the cost of the additions.
How do I add a 3-star or better target in my project specification?
It's easy to include a star rating target in your design brief. The star rating provides a simple, objective, evidence-based and achievable metric for project owners to specify, designers to tender on and road safety auditors or equivalent to verify. In general we recommend the following template is used for including targets:
The new road shall be designed and constructed to deliver the following minimum smoothed star ratings:
| Pedestrians* | Cyclists* | Motorcyclists* | Vehicle Occupants* | |
| Smoothed Star Rating Target | 4 Star or Better | 4 Star or Better | 3 Star or Better | 3.5 Star or Better |
*Where road users of that type are present or will be in the future
It's easy to include road safety related Infrastructure KPIs for your network management. See the recommended KPIs for crash data, infrastructure and speed management for existing roads, new roads and upgrades, as well as by road attribute here.
Here are some examples of Star-Ratings related recommendations used around the world:
Measuring outcomes
If the 3-star or better improvements are to be effective and credible the improved roads must deliver the promised results. Poor comprehension of design elements, lack of appreciation of road safety features by construction teams, rushed deadlines and the use of inferior materials can all compromise standards.
Star Rating the completed project ensures that all the improvements in the design or Safer Roads Investment Plan have been properly completed. It identifies any material changes since the original design was created and possible modifications to the design during construction. Final payment can be contingent on the achievement of the finished star rating as approved during the design or procurement stage.
Making a difference and saving lives
In February 2016, teams in Slovakia reassessed 327KM of the DI and DZ Motorways and R1 Expressway that had been subject to a €40m improvement package implemented by the Slovak National Motorway Company. The improvements took place following an iRAP Star Rating assessment undertaken in December 2013 as part of the South Eastern Neighbourhood Safe Routes (SENSoRj) project.
Before the upgrade only 27% of the roads had rated 3-star or better for vehicle occupants. The reassessment found that 77% of the improved sections now rated 3-star or better with no 1- star sections anywhere.
It is estimated that over the next 20 years, 355 deaths and serious injuries will be prevented on these stretches of roads.
Make Sure That Improved Roads Stay Safe
Even when a road is confirmed as 3-star or better we can’t afford to relax. Changing patterns in traffic volumes, urban density and urban boundaries and wear and tear/misuse of infrastructure could mean a road will become less safe over time. It is essential that crash performance on improved roads is regularly monitored.
Regularly updated risk maps can be used to measure and report on the road safety outcomes of investment by governments and funding agencies. Before and after studies also help build the evidence base for future investment and can ultimately be shared in the iRAP Toolkit. If risk maps aren’t available, then a Star Ratings reassessment should be undertaken every 3-5 years to ensure performance is maintained.
Don't let complacency cost lives
Because road environments – and the communities they serve – are constantly in transition, a road’s 3-star rating may be invalidated by changing circumstances.
For instance, in a rural area, an 80km/h or 50mph undivided road with wide centrelines and safe roadsides may deliver a 3-star better road. If the environment served by the road is subsequently urbanised then the safety needs and performance will change.
This common problem is a source of many deaths and injuries. In this scenario, with greatly increased traffic volumes at intersections, the former 3-star or better road will now be 1 or 2 star for all new road users. For the road to be safe, in this new urban environment, it will need to be divided and it will require pedestrian footpaths and safe crossings. The speed limit will also need to be reduced.
All these changes need to be introduced before the new, more dangerous road environment begins to claim lives.
Celebrating Success
Saving lives should be celebrated. We need to change the public perception around road traffic crashes so they are seen as a major preventable cause of death in the same way as maternal health and insanitary water.
To do this, we need your support. We need you to shout about your successes and build positive publicity around them. Get local MPs, design teams, project owners and road safety practitioners along for ribbon-cutting ceremonies. "Minister opens brand new 4-star road" could become a common headline in regional newspapers and media. A powerful speech by a key political figure can be inspirational for other road safety advocates. Listen to this speech by Malaysia’s minister of transport, Liow Tiong Lai.
Did you know you can have your roads and designs formally iRAP certified as 3-star or better? As road owners, investors and designers increasingly seek to support the Global Plan for the 2nd Decade of Action for Road Safety, there is demand for an official certification of the Star Ratings of their roads and designs. Official certification provides a communications opportunity to celebrate the achievement of a Star Rating target and provide formal verification of the status of a road or design. Visit irap.org.au/certification for more information.
A Success Story: Australia
Q: What is the difference between a child’s life saved through vaccination, or as a result of safer roads?
A: None at all!
Yet, while medical campaigns get well deserved publicity for their successes, life-saving road safety interventions struggle to get the same prominence.
When your 3-star or better roads are opened, why not publicise the life-saving benefits of the roads? Submit your “Share your Life-Saving Success” case study here so we can share it with the world and help to inspire the next project that will save even more lives.
For more information contact [email protected]
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