A research programme at TRL over the last decade has demonstrated beyond doubt that the faster drivers choose to travel, the more likely they are to be involved in an accident, and that higher speeds on roads with otherwise similar characteristics are associated with more accidents. The programme included a European study of speed and accidents on rural single-carriageway roads, but this involved a relatively small proportion of UK roads. The report describes a more extensive investigation of the relationship between speed and accidents on rural single-carriageway roads in England. The study involved: site selection; the collection and analysis of data from 174 road sections; the application of statistical techniques to group the sections; and statistical modelling to relate accident frequency to factors such as traffic flow, vehicle speed and other characteristics of the road. The report presents the resulting speed-accident relationships and discusses their implications for rural speed management. (Author/publisher)
Abstract