Road Safety Audits carrying out

Having carried out a Road Safety Audit by looking through scheme plans or examining the completed scheme on site, a formal report is written. HD 19/03 contains an illustrative report on the Ambridge Bypass which is used as a template for almost all Road Safety Audits carried out in the UK. 

Between 1991 and the end of 2007 TMS Consultancy carried out more than 7000 Road Safety Audits on a wide range of schemes, considered to be representative of Road Safety Audits carried out in... 

The SaferCity Project in Gloucester in the 1990s produced Exception Reports in response to all Road Safety Audits carried out by TMS. Overall, 73% of the Road Safety Audit problems were accepted, with SaferCity either fully accepting the recommendation or implementing an alternative solution. 

Road Safety Audits carried out so far in the Middle East have raised a number of issues,... 

In a recent Stage 3 Road Safety Audit carried out on a national highway in the Netherlands, the road was being extended from 2 x 2 to 2 x 4 traffic lanes with a hard shoulder and a parallel (segregated) cycle track. 

The overall quality audit process was coordinated by Andy Paul at TMS Consultancy, while individual TMS Consultancy road safety engineers carried out a road safety assessment, an NMU audit and a mobility audit. 

In Europe, the concept of Road Safety Audit is becoming more widespread with a new European Directive being introduced. This will lead to many countries carrying out Road Safety Audits for the first time. 

This second edition seeks to update knowledge and experience gained in carrying out Road Safety Audits since 2000 and updates advice and research from a variety of sources. 

The book has been written by practising Road Safety Auditors, who between them have carried out over 2000 Road Safety Audits. The aim of the book will be to teach and to inform - a guide for those commissioning Road Safety Audits, those carrying out Road Safety Audits, and for those whose schemes are being audited. 

The authors work at TMS Consultancy, an independent traffic and road safety consultancy firm, established in 1990, and based in Coventry, UK. TMS has carried out more than 7000 Road Safety Audits since 1991 and has worked throughout the UK and internationally. In addition to carrying out consulting work, TMS runs Road Safety Audit and other training courses. 

Figure D. 1 ]ack carrying out a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit on site...

The Road Safety Audit process in the UK started to gather pace when safety engineers realised that they were carrying out accident remedial schemes on relatively new roads. Adopting the principle of prevention is better than cure, they decided to use some of the safety experience they had gained from the remedial work, and design safety into new road schemes. 

In 1990 the IHT produced guidelines on the Safety Audit of Highways, adopted by many local authorities who started to carry out Road Safety Audits on local roads. 

During the late 1990s, the Highways Agency carried out a comprehensive review of Road Safety Audit in the UK. As a result, a new Standard (HD 19/03 Road Safety Audits) was published in November 2003. This Standard applies to trunk roads (including motorways) and is commended to other highway authorities. ... 

In response to the growing number of local authorities that were starting to carry out Road Safety Audits, the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT) produced guidelines for Road Safety Audit... 

Many local authorities use the Standard together with the IHT Guidelines as a basis for carrying out their Road Safety Audits. However, some authorities have developed their own Road Safety Audit procedures to reflect local conditions and more specifically geared to their own particular needs. Transport for London has procedures for carrying out Road Safety Audits in the capitaL ... 

Local procedures are particularly important when local authorities have a variety of client/consultancy splits within engineering departments. Some local authorities carry out their own highway design work while others use external consultants. In addition, some local authorities use external consultants to carry out the Road Safety Audit task. 

Hampshire County Council is one authority that has adopted the Standard with some variations. For example, the County Council regularly carries out Feasibility Stage Road Safety Audits on large schemes for small schemes the site visit may be carried out by one auditor at Stage 3 the audit team assesses the need to carry out a night-time visit. 

Another important issue is the way local authorities audit development-led schemes. Some authorities audit all schemes related to new developments on an in-house basis while others insist that an independent Road Safety Audit be carried out for the developer. 

Road Safety Audits in the UK are carried out at specific stages in the design, construction and monitoring phases of a project. 

There is an additional type of Road Safety Audit known as an Interim Audit which can be carried out during design or construction. 

Road Safety Audits are not carried out on existing roads in the UK although they are routinely carried out in other countries (see Chapter 7). This type of work is carried out as Route Safety Studies in the UK with an emphasis on historic accident and casualty data. 

On local road schemes there is more flexibility in the way Road Safety Audits are undertaken but there are some fundamental guidelines that should be applied when carrying out Road Safety Audits. 

The Road Safety Audit should be carried out independently from the design team. 

It is important that a Road Safety Audit is carried out independently from the design team. This will ensure that the Audit Team is not influenced by familiarity with the project. The definition of independence can vary between clients. Some clients will accept an Audit Team from the same organisation as the design team while others insist on complete independence. 

Experience has shown that two people carrying out a Road Safety Audit will identify more potential safety issues than a single Road Safety Auditor. The number of items to be checked, particularly on large highway schemes, can be onerous. Large numbers of detailed scheme plans may have to be examined. In addition, it is helpful to be able to discuss possible recommendations with another Road Safety Auditor. Using a Road Safety Audit Team helps to avoid the situation in which a single Road Safety Auditor can sometimes overemphasise a particular issue because of that individual s experience or even prejudice. 

A site visit should be carried out as part of each Stage of the Road Safety Audit. 

It is very important that a comprehensive site visit is carried out not only of the scheme itself but also of the surrounding area. Particular attention needs to be given to the tie-ins between the proposed scheme and the existing road network. HD 19/03 specifies that the whole Audit Team should visit the site together at all Road Safety Audit stages. Some local authorities relax these requirements by having one auditor visiting the site on smaller schemes. 

The following section describes a working method for carrying out Feasibility, Stage 1 and 2 Road Safety Audits. 

The Road Safety Audit Standard describes these Interim Road Safety Audits as being carried out and reported in the same way as the more formal stages of audit. However, it is likely that most nontrunk road schemes will have a less formal approach and the reports will be in the form of brief notes on the particular subject under... 

The main sources of control data are publications and databases. Anyone carrying out Road Safety Audits should keep up to date with the following. 

In 2006, TMS completed 925 Road Safety Audits. The majority (80%) were completed on schemes in the UK, with almost all the rest in Ireland. The Road Safety Audits were carried out by 15 Road Safety Auditors working in a variety of two-person teams. 

Only one feasibility stage Road Safety Audit was carried out. This stage is not included in the Road Safety Audit Standard but is suggested in the current IfTT Safety Audit Guidelines. 

Road Safety Audits are being carried out on all t3 pes of roads, not only the trunk road network. 

Road Safety Audit is an established part of the design and construction process for highway and traffic schemes in the UK. However, it is not the only audit carried out on a scheme as it moves from initial design to completion of construction on site. Other common audits are ... 

Since Road Safety Audits started in the UK in the 1980s a number of countries have been carrying out Road Safety Audits. Australia, New Zealand and Denmark were among the first countries to introduce Safety Audits. Many other countries now carry out Road Safety Audits on a regular basis while other countries are in the process of writing guidelines and procedures. 

The National Roads Authority in Ireland introduced a comprehensive Road Safety Audit procedure and guidelines. Many local road authorities in the country have followed their lead in carrying out Road Safety Audits on local roads. 

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