The aim of the present study, is to evaluate the efficiency and economic profitability, relating of the low cost performances of road safety programs that are undertaken annually by the General Directorate of Roads in Spain. For it, more than 3800 works have been studied, quantifying the reduction of the accident rate achieved after the works, the relation cost benefit analysis and the payback period. The methodology used has taken into account the variation of the traffic experienced after the works as well as excluding any other works carried out during a year, so that the accidentsreduction is attributed to a sole work. As for the obtained results, roadsafety improvement works have reduced the risk of accidents by 38% and fatal accidents by 34%, recovering the investment realized in 2.5 years. Within these programs, the improvements of vertical-horizontal signings are the most efficient measures since they reduce the risk of fatality by 39% and are amortized in less than 2.5 months (benefit cost ratio 6.5). The treatments of margins reduces the risk of fatality by 84 %. The lighting, external borders, the local improvements of carriageway marking and skidding prevention treatments of the road surface reduce the indexes of danger andfatality by more than 50% and 62%, respectively. Finally, the treatments of ditches has reduced the fatality risk by 31 %. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Samenvatting