Road Safety Tools for Road Authorities

6 July 2016Randall Cable Pr Eng

Overview

• Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility• Pillar 4: Safe Road User• Pillar 5: Post-Crash Responses

+/- 750 000 km

+/- 22 000 km

• The +/- 22 000 km represents only 2.9 % of the 750 000 km of RSA network– but carries 33,1% of all traffic, and– more than 70% of all long distance road

freight.

National Road Network

• Continue to invest in our national asset– 2010/11 to 2014/15, SANRAL

awarded 921 contracts worth R61.9 billion for new works, rehabilitation and improvement, and various maintenance cycles

– 2015/16, SANRAL spent R14,8 billion

National Road Network

• Massive Infrastructure Investment• Role of Infrastructure in Road Safety is proven• UN Decade of Action : Global Plan

–Safe Systems Approach

National Road Network

Safe Systems Approach

• Despite all efforts to prevent crashes, road users will remain fallible and crashes will occur.

• Safe System approach is to ensure that in the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury.

• It stresses that those involved in the design of the road transport system need to accept and share responsibility for the safety of the system, and those that use the system need to accept responsibility for complying with the rules and constraints of the system.

Role of System Designers• Rules and Constraints

– Human Error versus Human Fault– Compliant Society – Road Safety Competes on a Hierarchy

of Social Needs• What is the reality?• Infrastructure supporting better road user

compliance

Safe Systems Approach

“Conventional Road Safety Engineering Thinking”

“Conventional Road Safety Engineering Thinking”

Human Factors93%

Vehicle Factors13%

Road Environment Factors

34%

Important Role of Infrastructure

Introduction

Introduction

Need for better understanding of pedestrian behaviour on freeways

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

Engineering / Infrastructure Interventions

• Engineering interventions guided by Leading Fatal and Serious Injury Crash Types– Vulnerable Road Users Specifically Pedestrians– Vehicular Crashes

• Intersections • Head on collisions• Single vehicle (run off road type)

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

Drivers, 4066, 30%

Passengers, 5023, 36%

Pedestrians 4678, 34%Passengers 32% Drivers 27%

Pedestrians 37% / Cyclist 4%

Road Fatalities in SA

Between 5 000 and 6 000 pedestrians killed every year

The Case for Pedestrians• Genuine need for pedestrians to cross or travel along major routes.

– Vulnerable Road Users– Captive Road Users - Poorest of the poor

• Poor land use planning resulting in unsafe desire lines

Retrofit existing infrastructureA Safer Place to Walk

After

Before26

27

Retrofit existing infrastructureA Safer Place to Cross

Or…… we can calm traffic …..

60

• Engineering Priorities: Intersections– Are by nature conflict points– High Speeds or Reach Capacity– Upgrades

• Intersection Control Type• Turning lanes

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities: Intersections– Are by nature conflict points– High Speeds or Reach Capacity– Upgrades

• Intersection Control Type• Turning lanes• Roundabouts

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities: Intersections– Are by nature conflict points– High Speeds or Reach Capacity– Upgrades

• Intersection Control Type• Turning lanes• Roundabouts

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities: Head-on Collisions– Dual carriageways– Overtaking opportunity

• Climbing lanes• 2 +1

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

2+1 Lane Configuration

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities: Single Vehicle Runoff Road Crashes– Delineation

• Signs• Road Marking

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities: Single Vehicle Runoff Road Crashes– Delineation

• Signs• Road Marking

– Rumble Striping• Shoulder• Centre

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• Engineering Priorities :Single Vehicle Runoff Road Crashes– Delineation

• Signs• Road Marking

– Rumble Striping• Shoulder• Centre

– Recovery Zones

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

Good

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

Poor

• Engineering Priorities :Single Vehicle Runoff Road Crashes– Delineation

• Signs• Road Marking

– Rumble Striping• Shoulder• Centre

– Recovery Zones

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility• Pedestrian Hazardous Location Programme

– In many instances these are known to us– These are “quick wins”– Remedial measures NOT ONLY infrastructure– Road User Behaviour needs to be influenced as

well, Road Safety Education and Awareness• Covered under Pillar 4 Safer Road Users

Land Use Development

5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:000

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Number of pedestrians crossing at N7 per hour of day, for a Friday

No.

of p

edes

tria

ns

Land Use Development

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility• Pedestrian Hazardous Location Programme

Province 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16KZN 2 2 3 4 4 5FS 1 1 - 1 1 -

WC 4 1 2 2 3 2NC - 2 1 3 2 3EC 3 3 3 4 3 4LP 1 2 - - 4 3MP - 1 - 1 - -NW - - 2 - 1 2GP 2 - 1 0 - -

Total 13 12 12 18 18 19

92 Sites

Road Network Assessment

• Method to determine road safety risk - mitigate• Network Level Tool• Overcome limited accurate crash data available• Inform where to intervene and invest

• Highest Return for our Road Safety Investment• Develop a Model that other Road Authorities can use

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

• NetSafe©

– Identify and prioritize locations where road safety improvements and/or interventions are likely to be most effective

– Locations for further investigations • Further safety investigations must be undertaken at a particular

site in order to:• To identify appropriate safety improvements• Cost efficiency of safety improvements• Other remedial measures such as Road safety education and

awareness, and traffic law enforcement, that could compliment engineering/infrastructure interventions

Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility

Ri = RL + ∑ RP

∆ L• Where:• Ri = Risk index per km road length• RL = Risk index related to length-based factors (per km)• RP = Risk Index related to point-based factors

(e.g. intersections)• ∆L = Length of section road (e.g. 10 m)

Risk IndexNetSafe©

RP = FS x RPO X F1P X F2P .....

• Where:• RL = Risk index related to length based factors

• FS = Adjustment factor for accident severity• RLO = Baseline risk index per km road length• F1L, F2L = Length based accident factors

RL = FS x RLO X F1L X F2L .....

Where:RP = Risk index related to point based factorsFS = Adjustment factor for accident severityRPO = Baseline risk index per pointF1P, F2P = Point based accident factors

NetSafe©

• Video Data Collection

NetSafe©

NetSafe©

Netsafe Results

Distance km

Risk

Inde

x

NetSafe© Road Safety Risk Index

NetSafe© Road Safety Risk Index

NetSafe© Road Safety Risk Index

Netsafe AnalysisN2 Section 5 (km 0 to km 81)

Crash Data

Risk Index

ITIS Crash Data

Speed Limits

Speeds

Query 1: Speeds

Accesses and Intersections

Query 2: Accesses and Crashes

Vertical Alignment

Query 3: Overtaking Conditions

Pedestrians / Schools

• Proactive means of ensuring that we can provide road infrastructure, that is more forgiving, self-explaining, meets the needs of all road users.

• Promotes a culture of road safety among Designers• Promoting Safe System Philosophy

– Maximise the safety of the road system– Special emphasis on high risk issues (fatal and serious injury

crashes)

Role of Road Safety Audits

Thank You !