The paper is a record of a verbal presentation at an ARRB internal seminar. It outlines ARRB's current study on Town Planning and Road Safety, which is concerned with ways in which changes to the physical environment, and the way it is used, can be controlled to reduce road accidents. The objectives and background to the study are briefly discussed, and the conduct and results of a survey of 352 local government authorities responsible for urban areas in Australia are summarised. Six areas of planning were identified and used to collate information. The levels of activity by local authorities in each of these areas are briefly discussed. While the measures listed in the survey have received wide application, only four out of 273 respondents report any attempt at quantitative evaluation of these measures' effectiveness. The need for accurate criteria by which the degree of effectiveness can be assessed is recognised, and several areas where common practice may be counter to effective safe planning are discussed. These are: possible fallacies in the conventional approach to road classification; the problem of mixed function roads within estates that the conventional approach produces; and the need for the creation of an 'environment of care' in the residential street, which current standards do not necessarily produce. Examples of views expressed on traffic safety by planning appeals tribunals are used to emphasise the need for objective criteria. (Author/publisher)
Abstract