Best Practice in European Traffic Incident Management

Road networks are part of a country's transport infrastructure and are therefore subject to general transport policies. Efficient road networks are increasingly seen by governments across Europe as being the key to supporting and sustaining economic growth as they enable the movement of goods and services around the country. Traffic incidents have a significant impact on the normal operation of the road network. Economic constraints are causing National Road Authorities (NRA) to innovate as they look for cost efficient ways to tackle congestion and develop more effective traffic Incident Management (IM) measures. This has led to an emphasis in many European countries being placed on better use of existing infrastructure and IM capabilities rather than investing in more costly systems, equipment and working methods. The Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) investigates how countries, can develop their IM capabilities to support policy goals and the needs of road users. The purpose of this study is to facilitate the cooperation, on a European level, by exchanging experience and information. This will support countries across Europe to minimise the economic cost of incidents, improve road safety and, decrease mobility problems through the implementation of relatively low cost IM measures.