Where a pedestrian safety problem exists, it is quite often the end result of a failure on the part of the designers/road builders to recognise the full safety implications of their work. Road safety audit has a vital role to play in preventing such cases in the future, by ensuring that new road schemes (and the existing network) provide a high level of safety. Road safety auditors are required to put themselves in the shoes of the pedestrian, to walk the scheme - both day and night - and to search closely for potential safety deficiencies. Road safety audit is a vigorous and structured process that requires a detailed examination of a road scheme, including a site inspection, and a written report from the auditor covering the safety concerns for that scheme. The process also requires a report by the project manager, or the client, stating why safety actions recommended in the auditor's report have/have not been adopted. In carrying out a safety audit, the auditor must consider the role of road safety audit, to emphasise the special safety needs of pedestrians and to encourage engineers (as auditors and designers) to attend to those needs. In order to illustrate the application and relevance of safety audit to pedestrian safety, four audits are briefly described and their pedestrian safety findings are summarised. The merit of safety audit checklists is discussed, and pedestrian safety points which are contained in them are outlined. (A)
Abstract