Rse 2.2
Rse 2.2
Rse 2.2
Code
Course Title Elective
Road Safety Engineering Elective
OE 801 CE Contact Hours per Week CIE SEE Credits
3 30 70 3
Course Instructor
R Ravi Kumar
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Unit-2
❖ Vehicle design factors influencing road safety
❖ Driver characteristics influencing road safety
❖ Highway design for road safety
❖ Road safety audit, principles-procedures and practice
❖ Code of good practice and checklists
❖ Operating the road network for safety
❖ Highway operation and counter measures
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Road Safety Audit (RSA)
• RSA is the formal safety performance examination of an existing or
future road or intersection by an independent, multidisciplinary team
• It qualitatively estimates and reports on potential road safety
hazards and identifies opportunities for improvements in safety for all
road users
• The audit team report to the client project manager who will instruct
the design team to respond with alternative designs
The aim of an RSA is to answer the following questions:
• What elements of the road may present a safety concern: to what
extent, to which road users, and under what circumstances?
RSA to ensure that new road schemes, improvements to highways and traffic
• What opportunities
management exist
measures are to eliminate
designed, or mitigate
and implemented identified
to operate safety
as safely as
concerns?
possible 3
Definitions
• Road Safety Audit: The evaluation of road schemes during design and construction,
before the scheme is opened to traffic, to identify potential safety hazards which
may affect any type of road user and to suggest measures to eliminate or mitigate
those problems.
• Audit Team: A team of a minimum of two persons, independent of the Design Team
and approved by the Overseeing Organisation. The Audit Team shall comprise staff
with appropriate levels of training and experience in road safety engineering,
accident investigation and road safety audit, as set out by the Overseeing
Organisation.
• Design Team: The group undertaking the various phases of scheme preparation and
supervision of construction on behalf of the Design Office. This may be a team
within the Design Office or a separate consultant.
• Audit Team Leader (ATL): The person nominated and approved as Audit Team
Leader.
• Design Team Leader (DTL): The person within the Design Team responsible for
managing the scheme design.
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Scope of the Road Safety Audit
Road Safety Audit shall only consider matters that have an adverse bearing on road
safety. It shall consider safety under all operating conditions.
Primary purpose is to identify potential safety hazards within the scheme design
or construction as they could affect road users.
Road safety audit is not a check of compliance with design standards. Audit shall
not be concerned with structural safety.
For certain categories of scheme it may be necessary to confine the scope of the
audit so that only particular pre-defined elements of the road layout are assessed.
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Principles of Road Safety Audit
Road Safety Audit is the systematic application of safety principles. Specific
aims are:
• To minimize the risk of accident occurring on the road project and to
minimize the severity of accident that does occur.
• To minimize the risk of accidents occurring on adjacent roads in the network
as a result of a scheme.
• To recognize the importance of safety in highway design to meet the needs
and perceptions of all types of road users and to achieve a balance between
needs where they may be in conflict.
• To reduce the long-term costs of a road project, bearing in mind that unsafe
designs may be expensive or even impossible to correct at a later stage; and
• To improve the awareness about safe design practices among those involved 6
in the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of roads.
Principles of Road Safety Audit
A safe environment should:
1. Warn the driver of any substandard or unusual features.
2. Inform the driver of conditions to be encountered.
3. Guide the driver through unusual sections.
4. Control the driver's passage through conflict points or sections,
and
5. Be forgiving of the driver's errant or inappropriate behaviour.
6. Similar situations must be treated in similar way
It is better to avoid:
❖ Insufficient or deficient treatment
❖ Incorrect or misplaced treatment 7
Road Safety Audit
Process
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Stages of Road Safety Audit
Road safety audits and subsequent actions shall be completed at 6 stages
In the case of minor schemes or temporary works some of the stages may be omitted or
combined
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DURING FEASIBILITY STUDY
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COMPLETION OF PRELIMINARY
DESIGN
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COMPLETION OF DETAILED
DESIGN
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DURING CONSTRUCTION
STAGE
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Just flimsy tape barrier used
to block lane without any
pre-warning sign
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Common identified problems during the conduct of
road safety audit
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Details required for RSA team
List below describes the items that should be provided for road safety audit.
❖ Design Brief
❖ Departures from Standard
❖ Scheme Drawings
❖ Other scheme details, e.g. signs schedules, traffic signal staging
❖ Accident data for existing roads affected by the scheme
❖ Traffic surveys
❖ Previous Road Safety Audit Reports and Designer’s Responses
❖ Previous Exception Reports
❖ Start date for construction and expected opening date
❖ Any elements to be excluded from audit
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RSA-Code of good practice
Elements of a good RSA and measure of its success
• As to what makes a good safety audit report will depend on the audit team and its due
diligence in assessing the designs and drawings and a detailed inspection of the project.
• A good safety audit report will restrict itself to road safety issues, explain each of the safety
issues in some depth and provide practical and implementable recommendations.
• A good report would also not indulge in blame game.
• The success of a safety audit shall not be measured by cost-benefit approach, but by the
depth of analysis of the design features, identification of issues of safety concerns and the
recommendations that are accepted by client.
• In the initial stages, good number of recommendations may be found to be acceptable by the
client. However, with more and more awareness raising among designers safety features
would get in-built into the design of the project and it may not be surprising to find that the
number of recommendations from the audit team get reduced. The objective of carrying
out RSA would have then served its intended purpose.
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RSA Checklists
• Checklists are useful to assist the audit team. They describe the performance
and situations that can affect the road safety of selected types of project and
audit stage.
• These checklists should be used as a guide to focus audit towards important
matters that should be covered and not overlooked.
• Each project is different and will raise specific issues that may contain further
safety implications. When reviewing each of the points, the team should
consider that the road user would have to cope with conditions at night and
in adverse weather conditions also.
• The safety audit team should visit the site for identifying the deficiencies from
safety angle of the stretch and should suggest remedial measures.
• The team should check planning, cross-sections, alignment, roadside furniture
and facilities available, junctions, facilities for vulnerable road users, signs,
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Checklists
Checklist 1 Stage 1 Audit (DURING FEASIBILITY STUDY)
Checklist 2 Stage 2 Audit (COMPLETION OF PRELIMINARY DESIGN)
Checklist 3 Stage 3 Audit (COMPLETION OF DETAILED DESIGN)
Checklist 4 Stage 4 Audit (DURING CONSTRUCTION STAGE)
Checklist 5 Stage 5 Audit (COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION/PRE-OPENING)
Checklist 6 Stage 6 Audit (ON EXISTING ROADS OR DURING OPERATION &
MANAGEMENT)
Checklist 7 Planning
Checklist 8 Alignment
Checklist 9 Cross Section
Checklist 10 Intersections and Interchanges
Checklist 11 Road Signs Checklist 13 Lighting
Checklist 12 Road Markings Checklist 14 Roadside Hazards
Checklist 15 Roadside Facilities
Checklist 16 Vulnerable Road Users
Checklist 17 Development Proposals
Checklist 18 Maintenance Work 21
Sample CHECKLIST 5 - COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION
1 ) Have all recommendations from the previous stages been followed? If not, why not?
2) Involve the site engineer
3) Test the installations of traffic control devices as a road user: by car, by truck, by bus,
by cycle and on foot - from disabled road user angle. Also in the dark/ night hours.
4) Examine the carriageway for defects, especially at junctions to existing roads.
5) Has the opening of the road facility been adequately publicized?
6) How will the transition phase proceed?
7) Check that provision for emergency vehicle access and stopping is safe?
8) Check that all delineators and pavement markings are correctly in place.
9) Check that all signs and other traffic control devices are correctly in place. Check that
they are likely to remain visible at all times.
10) Check that the road markings as installed have sufficient contrast with the surfacing
and are clear of debris.
11 ) Check that all lighting operating is effective from safety point of view.
12) Check that no roadside hazard has been installed or overlooked.
13) Check that the form and function of the road and its traffic management are easily recognised under likely operating
conditions.
14) Check that all temporary arrangements, signing, etc, have been removed and replaced by permanent arrangements.
15) Other checks made at discretion of auditor or client.
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Common identified problems during the conduct of road
safety audit
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Common identified problems during the conduct of road
safety audit
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Common identified problems during the conduct of road
safety audit
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References
• Training Course for Road Safety Course Material MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT
AND HIGHWAYS GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
• Principles and Practice of Highway Engineering by L.R. Kadiyali and N.B.Lal.
• IRC:SP:88-2010 MANUAL ON ROAD SAFETY AUDIT Published by INDIAN ROADS
CONGRESS (IRC)
• FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasures http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov
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