What tools are available to test the safety of road infrastructure?

Answer

There are several instruments that road authorities can (commission to) use to test the safety of their road network and their roads. These provide an overview of possible safety bottlenecks and (consequently) of the targets for action.

Planning and designing tests

The safety of a new road or a far-reaching redesign of a road can be tested in advance by carrying out a road safety audit in various phases of the planning and of the design (see archived SWOV fact sheet The Road Safety Audit and Road Safety Inspection). Under European regulations, it is mandatory to conduct road safety audits when building or reconstructing national and provincial trunk roads.

Testing existing roads and cycling infrastructure

Various tests can be used to test the safety of existing road infrastructure. The SPV Knowledge Network provides an overview of measurement tools for the safe roads risk indicator.

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60 km/uur-weg buiten de bebouwde kom
Part of fact sheet

Principles for a safe road network

The construction of the road network and road design greatly affect road safety: firstly, because they make certain conflicts impossible or unlikely Meer

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