International Road Federation Brussels Programme Centre Page 1

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• European Union Road Federation
• (ERF)
• Infrastructure safety needs and policies

ERF is a signatory of the European Road Safety
Charter associating civil society to Europes
goal of halving the number of road deaths by 2010
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The Voice of the European Road

• ERF is a platform for dialogue and research at
  the service of the European road community.
• ERF initiates and supports scientific studies and
  publications aimed at improving the knowledge of
  the European road system.
• ERF gives the road community a consistent and
  united voice in all transport areas
• Socio-economic contribution of roads to society
• Sustainable road construction
• Infrastructure financing
• Intelligent roads
• Safer road engineering

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The Problem
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The European Context (1/4)

• Road safety levels in Europe remain preoccupying
• EU-25 41,500 deaths, 2 000 000 road injuries and
  countless near misses every year
• General trend show improvement in EU-15 but
  stabilisation in 10 new Member States,
• Performance varies considerably from one Member
  States to another,
• A structurally ageing population with lower
  cognitive abilities (night vision, etc.) and a
  higher fatality risk in the event of an
  accident.
• ? Road Safety remains a major societal issue in
  Europe

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The European Context (2/4)

• Evolution of fatalities in EU-25

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The European Context (3/4)

• Fatalities by million vehicles

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The European Context (4/4)

• Old New Member States performances

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Understanding the figures (1/4)

• Old solve the driver approach
• But
• with comparable speed blood alcohol limits,
  road death ratio between European countries is
  14,
• Single lane roads are up to four times as
  dangerous as dual carriageways,
• a third of road deaths are attributable to
  single-vehicle crashes with a roadside obstacle
• ? Official accident statistics significantly
  understate the importance of the road as a
  contributing factor

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Understanding the figures (2/4)
Case study
The driver Young, inexperienced, driving fast
The car Worn rear tires
The road Wet, no protective devices
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Understanding the figures (3/4)
How can accidents be avoided ?

• Acting on the driver
• More training, graduate licenses
• Acting on the car
• speed limitation devices, improved stability
  programmes
• Acting on the road
• passive safety devices, porous road surfacing,
  driver information (VMS, road signs, etc.)

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Understanding the figures (4/4)

• What we still find on European roads
• Unprotected trees and street furniture
• Poorly placed pedestrian crossings
• Road surface defects
• Obstructed driver visibility
• Inadequate protective devices
• Road signs and markings that are invisible in
  poor visibility conditions
• No consideration for vulnerable road users

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A shared responsibility (1/3)
The EU has legal obligations arising from the
Treaty

• Article 71 measures to improve road safety
  integrated within CTP.
• Article 152 public health and consumer
  protection issues.
• Article 155 technical harmonisation and
  interoperability of the Trans European Network.

• The 2003 RSAP translates these obligations into
  an action plan

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A shared responsibility (2/3)
but shares the overall responsibility for road
safety
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A shared responsibility (3/3)
and must therefore rely on a panel of measures.

• Direct legislation (eg. Tunnel Safety Directive)
• Data collection, comparison and analysis of best
  practices (Report on infrastructure safety
  practices)
• Standardisation (CEN/TC226 and TC227)
• Financial support to RD activities (RISER,
  RANKERS)
• Consumer information programmes (EuroRAP)
• Fiscal incentives (none tested yet)

• Subsidiarity remains a convenient excuse for some
  MS

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (1/8)
Europes most ambitious legislation is still to
come

• Framework legislation on road infrastructure
  management applicable to the TEN
• Provides guidance to ensure safety is integrated
  at all stages of road design, construction and
  management
• Who will it affect ?
• Road authorities safety procedures integrated in
  all phases of road planning, design, construction
  and operation
• Road engineers compulsory qualifications, best
  practice exchanges
• Motorists introduction of black spots signposts
• 1,300 lives could be saved every year

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (2/8)

• Components of the Directive

Supporting measures
Safe Road Management
Accidentology Cost-benefit Research Training Best
practices
Reactive Strategies
Preventive Strategies
High accident risk road management Network
Safety Management
Impact assessments Road safety audits Safety
Inspections
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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (3/8)

• Preventive strategies
• For new roads and major changes of operation
  Safety Impact Assessment.
• At pre-opening stage Safety Audits.
• As part of regular road maintenance Safety
  Inspections.

• Audit report
• delivers an idenpendent evaluation of the roads
  accident potential
• identifies any potential safety deficiencies
• makes recommendations to changes in the design
• 30 of problems identified during an audit will
  occur within 5 years unless the recommendations
  are implemented.

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (4/8)

• Reactive strategies
• High accident risk roads are road sections with
  an increased probability that a serious or fatal
  accident will occur in relation to traffic
  volume.
• Network Safety Management targets remedial
  measures to portions of the road network where
  accident cost reduction potential is the highest
• Safety gains will be maximum during first years
  of mass eradication programmes. In parallel,
  driver should be informed by means of a sign
  detailing the safety record of the section and
  suggesting concrete actions to the motorists.

• Signposting of high accident risk roads can lead
  to 25 reduction in injury accidents

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (5/8)

• Supporting Measures
• Detailed accident reports to detect recurrent
  patterns
• Best practice exchange to share engineering
  measures known for their cost effectiveness
  (before and after case studies).
• Systematic training courses for auditors leading
  to a certificate recognised throughout the EU.

• Research programmes into cutting-edge
  countermeasures
• Economic evaluation of remedial measures based
  on Cost-benefit assessment. E.g
• 353 for anti-skid surfacing
• 820 for markings and signs
• 134 for mini-roundabouts
• 198 for traffic calming measures
  
• Source Institute of Civil Engineers, UK

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (6/8)

• Status of the Directive
• 2001 First measures targeted at Black Spots
  announced in White Paper
• 2004 L. De Palacio confirms preparation of a
  framework directive under way
• April 2006 European Commission opens public
  consultation around three scenarios

• No change
• Technical and organisation requirements fixed at
  European level
• Technical and organisation requirements left to
  MS
• 4 October 2006 proposal to be formally
  submitted to European Parliament and Council

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (7/8)

• Reactions received
• We strongly suggest that guidelines are issued
  to facilitate the procedures of decision making
  and design of infrastructure and that an active
  exchange on best practices will be initiated.
  Dutch Road Directorate
• Our preference would be for an approach that
  minimised the level of
• prescription, allowing member states freedom to
  develop or draw upon
• appropriate procedures that best suited their
  needs UK DfT
• It is essential for such a Directive that it is
  flexible in the sense that it must not prohibit
  any member state for using already well working
  procedures. DK Road Directorate

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The Infrastructure Safety Directive (8/8)

• Joint statement released on 22 May 2006
• European road safety targets set in 2001 will
  not be met unless road authorities rise up to the
  challenge of absorbing increasing road traffic
  while offering safer driving conditions to all
  road users. We the undersigned organisations
  call for the swift release of a Directive on Safe
  Road Management as a part of a new safety deal
  linking in a realistic way all the actors of the
  safety chain.

Signatory Organisations
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Online resources

• Designing and keeping roadsides safe
• Better road infrastructure, saving your life
• Road Restraint Systems Passive safety where it
  matters
• Position Paper on the 3rd European Road Safety
  Action Programme
• Position Paper on the Tunnel Safety Directive
• Road Marking Requirements for Europe
• The Improvement of Signing in Europe
• Guidelines to Black Spot Management
• Engineering Safer Roads (Bi-monthly newsletter)

All publications are available at
http//www.erf.be/
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Thank You For Your Attention

• European Union
• Road Federation (ERF)
• Avenue Louise, 113
• B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
• Tel [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E-mailinfo_at_erf.be
• http//www.erf.be