ROAD SAFETY AUDIT - WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?

A road safety audit is the examination of a road scheme at various stages during its design and construction by an experienced independent officer to ensure that its road safety performance is maximised and that the whole life costs of the scheme are minimised. Many are still not sure what a safety audit entails, and others do not know why it is necessary. After all, haven't designers always had safety as a major objective? This paper explains what a road safety audit is and why highway authorities should be introducing it into their highway design process at an early date. It focuses on the British example of road safety audit, and in particular on the first author's experience with road safety audit in Oxfordshire County Council during 1990 and 1991. The paper then details three recent Victorian road improvements, each of which experienced serious safety problems upon opening, to highlight how safety audit could have prevented these problems from developing. The lessons which have been learnt from these three sites are detailed, and the paper concludes with an exploration of the positive contribution that safety audit can make particularly if the processes involved are properly integrated with quality management and assurance procedures. (A) For the covering entry of this conference, see IRRD abstract no. 843369.