iRAP and International Road Federation jointly held a Safer Roads by Design for Sao Paulo seminar in Brazil, during the TranspoQuip conference.

The course covered topics such as:

• How to design a 3-star or better road in Brazil.
• An introduction to Safer Road by Design: The role of engineering measures.
• Details on designs for safer roadsides, including longitudinal barriers, terminals and transitions.

The seminar coincides with iRAP road assessments that are being undertaken in Brazil, supported by the Global Road Safety Facility and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Partners from the 14-country SENSoR project came together with ROSEE partners in Slovenia to continue the push for reduction of risk on roads in South East Europe.

A high-level briefing including Slovenian infrastructure minister Omerzel Samo,  EuroRAP chairman John Dawson, and EASST president Emma Maclennan focussed on role of improved infrastructure in reducing injury.    

A key theme was the need to connect the “left hand” of infrastructure investment with the “right hand” of spending on emergency response, health, long term care and insurance. 

The mid-term SENSoR planning and reporting conference attracted 140 participants who heard that 3,150km of the Slovenian network and 3,600km of the Greek TEN-T network have already been inspected (click here to see results). Inspections in the other countries are underway, as are seminars and dissemination events aiming to raise public and political awareness of the road traffic injury epidemic.

The International Road Federation (IRF) has published the 50th anniversary edition of its World Road Statistics. 

To mark the anniversary, the publication includes 12 years of updated data, providing a comprehensive statistical picture of international road and inland transport from the start of the millennium.

The next Safer Roads By Design™: Across Six Continents course, one of the most comprehensive road safety training programs in the world, will begin on 16 February 2014 in Florida, US. The course will cover roadside safety, work zone safety, vulnerable user safety and road safety audits.

Colombia now has a detailed inventory of the characteristics of almost 11,000km of roads identifying risks and corrective measures required to improve safety.

Speaking at the launch of the results, Alexandra Rojas Lopera, CEO of Corporación Fondo de Prevención Vial said that investments of $2 billion pesos, equivalent to a third of the annual cost of road crashes in Colombia, could save more than 8,000 deaths and 56,000 serious injuries in next 20 years.

The assessment found that 60% the roads are rated 3-stars or better for vehicle occupants, but more than half the roads rated are just 1- or 2-stars for vulnerable road users. The road with the best score was Sincelejo – Corozal and the worst stretch is Cano – Mojarras. 

An interactive presentation on the project is available at: http://fpv.org.co/images/repositorioftp/FPV-resultados.swf.

The project involved the participation of Corporación Fondo de Prevención Vial, la CAF, el Ministerio de Transporte, Invías, la Agencia Nacional de la Infraestructura (ANI), la Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte, la Dirección de Tránsito y Transporte de la Policía Nacional (DITRA), la Universidad del Cauca, la Universidad del Norte y la Universidad de Los Andes.

ChinaRAP assessments are helping to guide planning for a ¥2.2 billion (US$373 million) investment in rural roads in the Qinba Mountains area of Shaanxi Province.

The ChinaRAP team examined more than 1,000km of roads targeted for improvement by the Government of China and the Asian Development Bank.

The assessments found that much of the road safety risk on the single-lane, undivided road network stems from the fact that more than two thirds of the roads are curved and many of the roadsides have hazards such as cliffs, steep drains and aggressive vertical faces.

An initial safety plan for around 200km of the main trunk roads identified opportunities to save more than 1,000 fatalities and serious injuries over 20 years, representing a reduction of almost 40% compared to current rates.

The ChinaRAP assessments were supported by the Global Road Safety Facility and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

KiwiRAP has been awarded the International Road Federation Global Road Achievement Award for Road Safety.

Ernst Zollner, Director Road Safety at the New Zealand Transport Agency said “The KiwiRAP team has done an excellent job in helping us better understand risk on our roads so we can target efforts to the highest risks first and make the greatest gains in reducing deaths and serious injuries.”

AA Motoring Affairs General Manager Mike Noon said KiwiRAP has been an important factor in the significant fall road deaths. “KiwiRAP is setting the standard globally for road assessment programmes. A huge number of crashes have been prevented and lives saved because of this work.” 

The latest KiwiRAP report showed that targeting high collective risk routes by the NZ Police and the Transport Agency achieved a 30% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes on those lengths of highway.

KiwiRAP was developed in partnership by the NZ Transport Agency, NZ Automobile Association, Ministry of Transport, NZ Police and ACC.

You can watch a short video on the program at: http://www.irfnews.org/current-winners/.

The Genesee County Road Commission (GRSC) has received a National Roadway Safety Award for its proactive Safety Improvement Plan for County Roads in Michigan, US.

The Genesee project was one of 12 exemplary highway projects and programs from across the US recognised by the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

GCRC developed the safety improvement plan based on a comprehensive usRAP review. The plan includes shoulder paving, pedestrian crossings, sidewalk provision, delineation improvements, lane widening, intersection signalization, left-turn lane provision, roadside barriers, road surface improvements, and rail crossing upgrades.

More information about the award winning projects is available in the National Road Safety Awards 2013 Noteworthy Practices Guide.

A series of new fact sheets that describe the iRAP methodology is now available for download. The fact sheets answer many of the questions people have about the iRAP approach, covering topics such as crash types, Star Rating Score equations, model...

New cars today do more to protect life than vehicles just 10 years ago, and by 2025, half of the cars on the road in Europe will be capable of “reading” signs and markings.

However, Roads that cars can read, a report published by EuroRAP and Euro NCAP, finds that inadequate maintenance and differences in road markings and traffic signs are now a major obstacle to the effective use of technology in vehicles, such as lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.

John Dawson (EuroRAP, Chairman) said “Lane markings are now the ‘rails’ for self-steering vehicles.” Michiel van Ratingen added “We set demanding standards for 5-star cars.  We must now move towards 5-star roads where the quality of road markings and signs are assured to work with modern vehicles.”

The latest report from the Road Safety Foundation shows that single carriageway roads are now 7 times more risky than motorways.

As the flowers by the roadside attest, the main crash type causing death is running off the road. The main crash type causing serious injury are brutal junction impacts.

The report measures and maps the risk of death and serious injury road uses face on the British network where the majority of lives are lost – on motorways and ‘A’ roads outside cities. It shows road travel is getting measurably safer, particularly because of improving vehicle safety.

The report comes at a time when the government has recognised Britain is falling behind other countries and announced the “biggest ever upgrade of our existing roads worth up to £50bn over the next generation”.