ROAD SAFETY AUDITS: THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION PERSPECTIVE

In the fall of 1996, the Federal Highway Administration sponsored a scanning team consisting of state, local, federal, and academia representatives to New Zealand and Australia to review their road safety audit (RSA) process. The team concluded that RSAs hold promise for maximizing safety of roadway design and operations, and as a minimum, should be pilot tested in the United States. RSA is an assessment of the crash potential and safety performance of an existing road or proposed project. RSAs may be conducted during project planning, preliminary design, final design, or construction. An RSA may also be conducted on existing roads that are open to traffic. The RSA is conducted by an independent, multidisciplinary team of trained specialists. The team's findings, including potential safety problems, are documented in a report. From this report, project managers can evaluate, select, and justify any appropriate project changes. An RSA is intended to minimize the risk of a traffic crash and ensure that measures to eliminate or reduce identified roadway problems are fully considered. In addition, RSAs promote the safety of all roadway users, establish the importance of incorporating safety in all roadway design work, and reduce the whole-life cost of a project.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Pagination: 4p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00770278
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Publication No. CD-006
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Oct 21 1999 12:00AM