Road Safety Audit: A Complete Review
Ms. Aashish Verma
Student
Department of Civil Engineering
Arya Institute of Engineering Technology and Management, Jaipur
Abstract: Accident are very common in every city of
all corners of the world. The proper steps should be
taken to reduce the number of accidents on roads.
This paper reviews the concepts and the process of
the road safety audit.
Keywords : Accidents, Road Safety Audit.
I. Introduction
Road safety review is a way to check how safe a road or
traffic plan is. It looks at the potential for accidents
and how well the plan will keep people safe.Road
safety impact assessment is another way to check
how a new road or traffic plan might affect the
number of accidents on the roads. It considers how
the plan might change traffic conditions and lead to
more or fewer accidents.Both of these methods
help engineers and planners make safer roads.
They use them to prevent accidents on new roads
or when changing existing ones. These methods are
also used to improve safety on current roads with
small changes that don't cost a lot.This survey
explains how safety reviews and impact
assessments are used to design and build safe
roads. It also shows how they're used in planning
to decide which road plans are best among
different options. Usually, roads are designed
considering ways to make them safer for everyone.
A wide range of factors are considered when
designing roads, including travel time, user
comfort and convenience, fuel efficiency,
construction costs, environmental impact, and
urban or rural planning goals.
Safety is one of these factors, but it's often
assumed that following established rules and
layouts for each aspect of the design will ensure
safety. While these rules are indeed based on
safety, simply adhering to them isn't always enough
to guarantee a design free from potential hazards.
Formal safety reviews and impact assessments
ensure that independent expertise is used to
explicitly consider the safety implications of an
entire design. By doing so, they lead to safer
designs for both new roads and modifications to
existing ones.
II. Objective of Safety Audit
In safety reviews, the main goal is to ensure that all
new highway designs operate as safely as possible.
This means safety should be considered throughout
the entire planning and construction of any project.
Specific aims include:1. Minimizing the number
and severity of accidents on the new or modified
road.2. Avoiding the possibility of the design
causing accidents elsewhere in the road network.3.
Ensuring that all users of the new or modified road
can clearly understand how to use it
safely.Regardless of the purpose of the design, a
safety review always starts with a road layout. The
review aims to identify potential road safety issues
by looking at the design from the perspective of
various users and to make recommendations for
addressing these issues using the principles of road
safety engineering. This means the review goes
beyond simply assessing whether the relevant
design standards are properly applied. An example
of how safety reviews are used by a British local
authority is provided in Annex 1.
By reducing the risk of accidents during the design
stage of a road project, there's less need for costly
safety measures later on, which ultimately lowers
the overall lifetime cost of the project
.Road safety review is a crucial tool for focusing
on road safety during the design of road plans. This
focused attention should assist everyone involved
in making decisions about changes to road
3.1 Stage 1 Audit (During Feasibility Study)
infrastructure to evaluate the safety implications of
Stage 1 audits are recommended for major projects,
the various choices that arise during the design
especially in urban areas, to influence route
process. As a result, it increases the awareness of
selection, design choices, standards, impacts on
road safety among infrastructure planners,
and integration with the existing network,
designers, and authorities.
intersection layout, potential hazards from roadside
construction, and more.
III. Stages of Road Safety Audit The audits of initial project/planning studies focus
Safety audits can be conducted on both new and on several key areas:
existing roads. For new roads, the audit helps
prevent the creation of accident-prone situations, ● Effect on exiting network
while for existing roads, it leads to improvements ● Number and types of junctions
in safety.Here's a breakdown of the stages of road
safety audit:. STEPS INVOLVED IN STAGE 1 AUDIT

Table 1. STAGE OF ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

NEW CONSTRUCTION STAGE

Stage
During Feasibility Study
1Audit

Stage 2
During Preliminary Design
Audit

Stage 3
Completion of Detailed Design
Audit

Stage 4
During Construction Stage
Audit

Completion of Construction(Pre- Stage

opening) 5Audit
Fig 1. Stage 1 Safety Audit

3.2 Stage 2 Audit (Completion of Preliminary

EXISTING ROADS
On Exiting Roads(Monitoring)
Design)
Stage 2 audits are suggested upon completion of
preliminary design work. They assess horizontal and
Monitoring vertical alignments, sightlines, and the layout of
intersections including slip roads and lay-bys.
Following this stage, land acquisition may various classes of road users may need to share
commence. road space
Steps involved in Stage 2Audit are

Fig 2. Stage 2 Safety Audit

Fig 3. Stage 4 Safety Audit

3.3 Stage 3Audit (Completion of Detailed Design)
Stage 3 is recommended upon completion of
detailed design and before the preparation of 3.5 Stage 5Audit (Completion of Construction)
contract documents. Its purpose is to assess (Pre-opening)
detailed intersection design, markings, signs,
signals, lighting details, and other related Stage 5 is recommended just before the
aspects.At this stage, the following subjects are opening of the project, involving site staff and
assessed: local traffic police in cars and trucks. This
● Project changes since Stage 2 Audit should involve driving and, when appropriate,
● Detailed design of junctions walking and/or cycling the new route. It's also
● Design of geometric important to conduct checks during nighttime
● Cross-fall to ensure that necessary nighttime safety
standards have been met.Many projects are
constructed with the road open to traffic
3.4 Stage 4Audit (During Construction Stage) The
throughout the entire construction phase.
development zone refers to the area of the road
When there is certainty of an imminent
affected by construction activities, which in turn
opening for traffic, a comprehensive inspection
impacts traffic flow and the safety of workers and
is conducted to verify that all markings and
road users. In this context, it can also be referred
traffic control devices are in place. This
to as a "Traffic Control Zone." In rural areas,
inspection is initially carried out independently
challenges in these zones are exacerbated by
by the auditor and subsequently with the
reduced availability of roadway, land acquisition
Project Manager of the Contractor.
for detours, etc. In urban areas, the challenges are
Steps required in Stage 5 Audit are given
even more pronounced, as detours may need to
utilize adjacent roads of the road network, and
 5. Highways Agency, 2003. Document HD19/03
on Road Safety Audit, found in the Design Manual
for Roads and Bridges, Volume 5, Section 2:
Preparation and Implementation, Part 2
.6. IHT (Institution of Highways and
Transportation), 2008. Document on Road Safety
Audit from London, UK.
7. Transportation Research Board (TRB), 2012.
"Human Factors Guidelines for Road Systems"
NCHRP Report 600 (Second Edition) from
Washington D.C.

Fig 4. Stage 5 Safety Audit

IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, Road Safety Audits play a crucial
role in ensuring the safety of people on the road.
They are a specialized process conducted
independently of design and construction work.
The purpose of Safety Audits is to apply
operational road safety experience during the
design and construction process to minimize the
number and severity of accidents.
Road Safety Audits serve an important function in
verifying that roads are designed and constructed
to the highest safety standards. A well-executed
Road Safety Audit enhances the value of a
highway scheme at every stage.

V. References
1. Department of Civil Engineering & Head,
Centre for Transportation Systems (CTRANS),
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.
Journal of Transportation Engineering article on
road safety audit for a four-lane national highway.
2. Department of Transportation Planning and
Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National
Technical University of Athens, Greece. Journal of
Transportation Engineering article on road safety
audit for a major freeway and implementing safety
improvements.
3. Spring Gary S., P.E., M.ASCE. "Road Safety:
Discussion of State of Practice" published in the
Journal of Transportation Engineering by ASCE in
May 2005.
4. The checklist of urban road safety toolkit as per
Indian Road Congress specification.