Since the 1990's, the requirement for carrying out a road safety audit has grown. This was largely due to when the Design Standard HD 19/90 was incorporated in to the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). It is now commonplace for Local Authorities to request an independent Road Safety Audit as an core part of the planning application. Petros Price, Director and transport planning consultant at Modal Group provides a brief guide to road safety audits.
What is a Road Safety Audit?
A Road Safety Audit (RSA) is a formal and systematic process by which the potential for accidents to occur and the safety of new highway schemes are checked. The approach used to carry out the Road Safety Audit, have been developed over many years and are now based on established safety principles. The auditor’s role is to assess the proposed scheme as an independent body, which has no knowledge of the proposal and so no preconceived ideas. This is vital, as the aim of the auditor is to ensure that the road will operate as safely as possible, thereby minimizing the potential for future accidents to occur and if they do, to reduce their severity.
As Road Safety Auditors we are guided by two safety principles. These being:
• Prevention is better than cure; and
• The safety audit considers all road users and especially vulnerable road users.
Naturally, we also refer regularly to more detailed guidance on carrying out road safety audits. Such guidance is included in DMRB within HD 19/94 “Road Safety Audit Standard” and Advice Note HA 42/94, which were written with the Trunk Road network in mind. In addition, the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT) have prepared “Guidelines for the Safety Audit of Highways”, dated 1996, which complements the advice in DMRB but does not supersede it.
The Safety Audit Stages
DMRB and IHT Guidelines recommend the following Stages:-
• Feasibility (no requirement to carry out);
• Stage 1 – Preliminary/draft plans;
• Stage 2 – Detailed design;
• Stage 3 – On Opening (recommended just prior to opening); and
• Monitoring - Recommended at 1 and 3 years after opening.
What is RSA Good Practice?
A good practitioner will follow a code of good practice. It is good practice for the road safety audit to be carried out totally independently of the road scheme designer.
In terms of good practice, the following principles apply:-
• The audit team should be independent of the design team;
• For Stage 1 audits, 2 auditors would suffice. However, a Stage 2 audit may require specialists while Stage 3 audits should include the Police, an engineer responsible for the road maintenance and a Road Safety Officer.
• The audit team should visit the site;
• The audit team should have specialist up-to-date knowledge of safety engineering;
• The findings should be documented as should the audit advice;
• The designer should document reasons for not implementing advice
You can learn more about Modal Group Ltd's Road Safety Audits or contact us direct via the Modal Group website at Traffic Consultants.
