This paper summarises the results of our investigation on speed-accident relationships on different kinds of European roads. Available literature on the subject is rich, but further research was needed to meet the specific requirements of the MASTER 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. This paper summarises the results of the investigation published in several reports under Work Package 1.1 of the MASTER Project. The paper 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 extreme speeds, 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