A two-day course was held in conjunction with the Africa Transportation Technology Transfer (T2) Conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

The T2 Conference served as a part forum, for sharing and exchanging existing and new approaches to technology transfer that enabled countries to develop integrated transportation systems. 

The iRAP training course contributed to promote capacity building in road safety, with 25 participants in attendance. The course used iRAP training materials to educate and train road safety staff in the development, delivery and ongoing management of road assessments within a country. 

The course demonstrated the technical and scientific approaches that can save approximately one in every three fatalities on the roads through the systematic application of proven road safety engineering improvements.

Assessments of more than 20,000km of national highways around Australia have been published by AAusRAP. A total 1,170 road crash deaths, or 15% of all road deaths in Australia, occurred on the roads from 2005-2009. 

The report includes a finding that on the top 15 most improved sections the number of casualty crashes dropped from 963 to 424 – a 56% drop – between 2000-04 and 2005-09.

The Minister for Roads in the State of Queensland, Craig Wallace, said that plans are in place to significantly upgrade the Bruce Highway, one of the roads identified as higher risk in the report.

The report is available at: www.ausrap.org. AusRAP is run by the AAA and it’s member automobile clubs, who are dedicated to saving lives by advocating for safer road infrastructure.

Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project (KSHIP) engineers in India have used iRAP safety performance measures to dramatically enhance the design of some 550km of concession roads.

As a result of their efforts the length of road rated 1- or 2-stars will virtually be eliminated (dropping from 86% to 2%) for vehicle occupants and will decrease significantly (from 100% to 12%) for pedestrians. It is estimated that this will lead to a 54% reduction in deaths and serious injuries. 

This work is part of efforts by iRAP to assist the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to improve safety performance measures in road design and address the Commission for Global Road Safety recommendation that desired design speeds for new roads be subject to achieving minimum safety ratings.The iRAP India Four States project is financed by the Bloomberg RS10 project via the Global Road Safety Facility.

Buckinghamshire County Council in Great Britain has received a Prince Michael Special Award for its comprehensive package of measures on the A4128 which cut fatal and serious crashes by 89%.

The measures, highlighted in the latest EuroRAP report, include: a speed limit reduction, improved directional and warning signs, improved road markings, intelligent road studs, traffic calming measures and upgraded pedestrian crossing facilities in villages. 

Roads identified in the recent EuroRAP report have also featured in a 5-part BBC television series. ‘Britain’s Killer Roads’ visits some of Britain’s persistently high-risk roads, meeting road crash victims’ families and finding out what it is that makes these roads dangerous.