Road marking: road maintenance or road safety?

Although there are National Australian Standards that provide guidance on road markings, each Australian State and Territory has its own version. Local Governments have yet another version. This can vary from paint type approval systems, to material application rates and even line pattern dimensions. Intervention / fail levels vary too from State to State, and in most cases are not even considered as a road safety management issue. There are cleverer and less complex ways of achieving reductions in highway collateral damage. This paper sets out to present an overview of why pavement markings play an important role in reducing road carnage; what must be specified in order for pavement markings to function at a level that may assist in achieving this goal; how to specify for improved safety performance and; how to know that you've got what you paid for.