THE IMPACT OF THE ROAD AND THE ROAD ENVIRONMENT ON ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY: OBJECT OF STUDY ROAD 850 FALUN-SVAERDSJOE

The purpose of this thesis was to supplement the existing knowledge of the impact of the road and the road environment on road traffic safety. The object of the study was road 850 between Falun and Svaerdsjoe. The variables studied were: road width, standard of intersections and adjoining roads, alignment standard and the unevenness and rut depth. The effect these variables had on the road traffic safety was examined. Interviews were also made with different categories of road-users to investigate their opinion of the road. Inspections, observations and analyses of the parts of road 850 that were most prone to accidents resulted in the formulation of proposals intended to enhance the safety of the road. The length of the study was 13 years and the evaluation showed that the most effective measure to reduce the number of injuries amongst pedestrians and cyclists is a physical separation within the road reserve between the unprotected road-users and motorised vehicles.