This report describes the speed-accident relationships on different kinds of European roads. Initially a literature review was carried out to establish what needed to be done to supplement the available research. The review revealed that despite a wealth of literature available on the subject further research was needed to meet the specific requirements of the MASTER (Managing Speeds of Traffic on European Roads) project. To meet those requirements European speed and accident data were critically examined in order to gain a better understanding of speeds on European roads and their relationships to accident occurrences. The report gives a comprehensive description and analysis of flow and speed distributions on a sample of UK and European roads and examines critically the effects of road environment and road geometry on traffic speed and accidents. An accident predictive model is proposed for wider application in the European Union. Despite the likelihood that the model will successfully predict accident frequency for a wide variety of roads it is recommended that, where possible, the model is tested and assessed prior to use in a particular situation. (Author/publisher)
Abstract