Accident prevention is generally considered to apply safety principles to new road improvement or traffic management schemes, which are not justified on the basis of accident reduction only. It usually includes safety checks ('safety audits') on designs for these schemes, to ensure that no problematic feature is introduced, and to identify if additional safety measures are needed. Each of the main investigative approaches, used to develop accident reduction programmes, includes the following planning steps: (1) data collection, storage and retrieval; (2) identification of hazardous locations for further study; (3) diagnosis of accident problems; and (4) the final selection of sites to be included in the remedial implementation programme. The single site approach, which is perhaps the most commonly used, identifies 'blackspot' sites on the basis of the number of accidents at single sites within a given period. The mass action approach, used second most often, seeks sites that are clearly associated with a specific predominant accident type, for which there is a proven engineering solution. The route action approach identifies the main 'blackspots' along a specific road or class of road. Area action programmes, such as traffic calming schemes, are applied in urban areas where many accidents are scattered. For the covering abstract, see IRRD 892228.
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