European road safety figures reveal something of a paradox. Despite the relentless drive towards harmonisation of speed limits, blood alcohol levels and enforcement policies, the fact remains that some EU countries - and some roads - are far safer to drive in than others. After enlargement, that gap now stands at 1:5, on the basis of fatalities/population. In a context where road safety has become a political priority and in the face of rising consumerism from the drivers themselves (as witnessed by the star ratings delivered to cars and now roads), such disparities have highlighted the need to extend policies well beyond education and enforcement. With infrastructure involved in as many as a third of all accidents, safe road engineering supported by sound research can help ensure consistently high levels of safety along Europe's road networks. This paper will highlight the specific contribution of two European research projects and how they relate to the current European policy-making context: RISER (Roadside Infrastructure for Safer European Roads) attempts to achieve a Europe-wide consensus on the design, implementation and maintenance of road safety devices based on a better understanding of collision parameters (how and why vehicles leave the road). The foundation of the RISER project is that improved data collection combined with the establishment of a series of European Guidelines for highway safety professionals can reduce the number and severity of single-vehicle collisions. RANKERS (RANKing for European Roads Safety) pursues the ambitious objective of developing scientifically-researched guidelines enabling optimal decision-making by road authorities in their efforts to promote safer roads and eradicate dangerous road sections. RANKERS is a research project designed to gain new knowledge by performing research and empirical studies of the road's interaction with the driver and his vehicle in order to identify optimal road recommendations and predict their impact on safety. The main output of the project will include an index used for assessing and monitoring road safety and a comprehensive catalogue of road infrastructure safety recommendations ranked according to their cost-effectiveness. RISER and RANKERS are complimentary in addressing the key issue of road design that both minimises driver errors and mitigates the consequences of accidents through recommendations that are based on a sound understanding of how and why road accidents occur (A). For the covering abstract of the conference see E217780.
Samenvatting