The UK's Campaign for Safe Road Design is playing a lead role in calling on the EU to promote a programme of safety engineering on high-risk roads across Europe. It claims the programme will reduce the annual €160bn (2 per cent of European GDP) cost of road crashes by €50bn.

The Campaign makes its call for action to MEPs tonight (2 December) as the European Road Assessment Programme, EuroRAP, publishes maps for 15 EU countries showing the busy high-risk roads where deaths are concentrated.

According to the Campaign, in the past 10 years, two million people have been killed or suffered life changing injury in road crashes in the countries of the EU. It is asking MEPs to sign a pledge to support the Campaign and make safe road design a key element in Europe's new Road Safety Action Plan for the decade ahead.

According to Dr Joanne Hill, head of the UK's Campaign for Safe Road Design: "A safe road needs road users who obey traffic law, manufacturers who provide safe vehicles and authorities who provide safe roads."

She claims the way risk on Europe's roads is managed "would not be accepted in any other field such as air, rail or factory safety and is a quarter of a century out of date. We need to move from just treating blackspots where some have already died to systematically removing the known high risks that will lead to hundreds of thousands being killed or seriously injured in the decade ahead."

"The public understands the role safe driving can play. Euro NCAP crash tests have helped the public understand the role that features like air bags and crumple zones play in cars with 4 and 5-star safety. Now, as Europe prepares a new Road Safety Action Plan for the decade ahead, there is an urgent need for public policymakers to understand the new EuroRAP mapping and how we can cut road casualties by up to a third through affordable safety engineering on high-risk roads," says Hill.

At a dinner in Brussels tonight (2 December) hosted by the European Campaign for Safe Road Design, MEPs will be asked to sign a pledge supporting a commitment to a formal safe road infrastructure. The Campaign believes this could cut deaths and serious casualties by up to one-third (50,000 annually) in less than a decade. This will save at least 300 deaths and serious injuries every day in Europe worth 0.5 per cent of European GDP (€50 billion) annually.

• Download the full pan-European risk map (16MB)
• Download a snapshot of the map in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium (3MB)
• Download a snapshot of the map in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Austria (2MB)

Ends

Media contacts:
Rebecca Hadley or David Armstrong: +44 (0) 20 7808 7997

For the latest news from the Campaign for Safe Road Design follow us on Twitter.

Government Support Strengthens

The drive of leading countries towards transparency in road safety has led to a significant increase in the number of road authorities and government organisations actively pursuing road infrastructure in the effort to meet national and EU casualty reduction targets. 

At the launch of the Campaign for Safe Road Design in July 2008, Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick expressed the government's support for the Road Safety Foundation's proposals to extend its EuroRAP Risk Mapping and Performance Tracking to all 'A' roads. 

In November 2008, Department for Transport (DfT) and the Foundation reached agreement to undertake this analysis to help contribute to the shape of the government's forthcoming policy statement on road safety strategy beyond 2010. The analysis will assess risk rates of the motorway and A-road network, and will for the first time, extend the evaluation to both primary and non-primary roads. The Foundation is grateful to the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund for their financial support of this work.   

Flash results from the analysis were presented to DfT in January 2009 and results will be available for the government Consultation Paper planned for release at the end of March 2009. The Road Safety Strategy itself is due for release in November 2009.

A Safe Road Infrastructure Initiative

British professional institutions in line with best international practice (e.g. OECD Towards Zero: ambitious road safety targets and the safe system approach, October 2008) are advocating moving safety engineering from 'reactive' engineering to 'proactive' engineering. Most road deaths occur where there are measurable known risks.  The Campaign for Safe Road Design advocated that if Britain is to reduce casualties substantially, it must move to programmes where high risks are systematically identified and removed along whole routes and networks.   

Members of the CSS, IHT, IHIE and the Road Safety Foundation are currently undertaking a demonstration project to show how a practical programme of high return infrastructure safety investment can be generated based on systematic risk analysis, of the type already operated in the UK within the EuroRAP programmes. The project aims to:

• Validate potential costs and benefits at the local and national level
• Achieve support of local and national authorities and representative organisations
• Identify barriers and potential solutions for safe infrastructure programme delivery
• Encourage a consistent national approach to safe infrastructure improvement
• Contribute to guidance for Highway Authorities
• Refresh route safety strategies and priorities as part of road safety strategy post 2010

The Highways Agency and two local road authorities in the South East with strong safety engineering skills are actively participating in modeling the scale of casualty saving and economic return possible. Results are due in summer 2009.

Partner Activity

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) have taken every opportunity to mention and promote the Campaign by using conferences and meetings with members to circulate Campaign material. They also updated their website with news of the Campaign.

The IAM Motoring Trust gave the Campaign launch a full colour spread in their 2008 Summer edition of Advanced Driving. With a readership of 130,000 this is a significant piece of promotion. The IAM Trust has also used campaign themes in submissions to the Scottish Road Safety Strategy, resulting in a section dedicated to "Designing for Human Error". The Trust also intends to use Campaign themes in their submission to the DfT consultation on new targets and strategy for 2010, due in Spring 2009.

RoadSafe published an article on the Campaign in their winter 2008 magazine, and have publicised the Campaign on their website, in monthly blogs and in the news section. In 2009 they are continuing with this support. After a meeting with the DfT Road Safety Advisory Panel, officials confirmed that the post-2010 strategy will focus on important issues such as:

• men between the ages of 16 and 30 
• rural roads  - particularly 'A' roads
• metropolitan pedestrians and cyclists
• Motorcyclists
• inappropriate and excessive speed
• drink and drug driving
• basic driving standards

Backing by the partners has been crucial in the success of the Campaign and we would like to thank them for their continuing support.

The Future of the Campaign

The Campaign has now been running for 6 months and has gained professional support and recognition from the public and informed media. The website continues to draw visitors and comments and with the support of Campaign partners, the initiative appears likely to achieve its aims of ensuring that the government's road safety strategy review contains a formal safe road infrastructure initiative. It has helped raise awareness of the huge economic cost of road casualties, the huge contribution that safe road design can make in cutting casualties, and the concentrated problem on British 'A' roads.

Once the government's consultation document has been released, and the Campaign has hopefully welcomed the inclusion of a Safe Road Design Initiative, it is proposed to keep the Campaign for Safe Road Design in operation at least until DfT announce their new road safety strategy for the coming years in November 2009. The Campaign will then be used to launch an initiative targeted at ensuring implementation.

The Road Safety Foundation has offered to arrange a dinner among interested Campaign parties to chart the way forward following launch of the government's consultation document. We will keep you updated about that, the government's announcement and any direction the Campaign for Safe Road Design takes.

Campaign Launch

An unprecedented alliance with a simple message - Make Safe Road Design a National Transport Priority
 
The Campaign for Safe Road Design was launched in the House of Lords on 8th July 2008 at a high-powered event with an attendance from the British Who's Who in road safety.  Jim Fitzpatrick, The Minister for Road Safety, senior officials responsible for road safety, and the new Highways Agency CEO attended alongside top representatives from campaign partners senior Parliamentarians, and representatives from industry, local government and insurance. The event was hosted and introduced by Lord Dubs, Chairman of the Road Safety Foundation.
 
Chairman of the Campaign, John Dawson premiered the campaign video and introduced the essential analysis contained in a new report Getting Ahead: Returning Britain to European leadership in casualty reduction. As the government prepares its road safety strategy beyond 2010, this seminal report proposes how we can now turn attention to the safety features built into the road itself. It the new road safety policies of leading countries and details how GB can quickly prevent around one-third of total fatal and serious injuries with the introduction of a national Safe Road Infrastructure Programme.
 
Download the full report here.

Minister announces "The Department will work with the Campaign"

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick welcomed the work of the Campaign for Safe Road Design and pledged that the Government will work with the campaign's members as Britain's safety strategy beyond 2010 is developed. During the launch of the Campaign for Safe Road Design in the House of Lords on 8 July 2008, he reflected on the 'Vision Zero' approach of Sweden and the 'Sustainable Safety' approach of the Netherlands and highlighted the lessons that should be learnt.
 
Mr Fitzpatrick offered government support for the proposal by the Road Safety Foundation to implement EuroRAP Risk Mapping of the entire 'A' road network outside urban cores, recognised that this would provide a rich source of data in developing a strategy.

Campaign receives widespread support

In the build up to the launch, the national media mobilised to report on the findings of British progress to eliminate high-risk roads. Using the latest results as a backdrop for the call for a Safe Road Infrastructure Programme, the launch of the Campaign received widespread support and coverage. For example:

The Surveyor, welcomed the campaign in a leader: "With most deaths occurring on them, the focus on A-roads in rural locations is a must. It makes you wonder why rural road design hasn't been given the recognition it deserves as part of an overall strategy on road safety"

Fleet News reported on "the new lobby group…formed by some of the most influential motoring associations" and concentrated on the finding of the 2008 EuroRAP results showing that "30% of primary roads are unsafe, while a quarter of British motorways fall outside safest band"

Support for the Campaign from the RAC Foundation's Professor Stephen Glaister was quoted in the New Civil Engineer "there is an overwhelming business case" and Local Transport Today "the impressive first year rate of return for road safety schemes."

The local press across Britain hit home at grass roots level with blanket coverage.

BBC Newsnight Special

BBC Newsnight have prepared a special programme backing the Campaign. The programme includes footage of Britain's high risk roads, with commentary on the road safety engineering countermeasures that could be implemented to decrease the risks faced by road users. Interviews with road authorities and leading figures in road safety are also featured. A live panel discussion will also be held featuring the Minister for Road Safety, Jim Fitzpatrick, and the Campaign for Safe Road Design Chairman, John Dawson. The scheduled broadcast date will be published in due course.

What Partners are Doing

The key goal of the Campaign is to raise awareness, ahead of the next road safety strategy, of the huge contribution that safe road design can make in cutting casualties. Below is a snapshot of the initiatives undertaken by Campaign partners to raise awareness and promote the Campaign.

Campaign HQ

• The Campaign's YouTube channel achieved the accolade of being the UK's most watched non-profit for a week and sits in the UK top 100 of all time.
• People are being urged to join the Campaign on a special Facebook group.
• A Campaign's press notice welcomed the influential OECD report "Towards Zero" urging governments to be more ambitious in setting targets and to implement the Safe System Approach.
• A Newsnight special item is in the can.

Campaign Partners

• The Road Safety Foundation is Risk Mapping the entire 'A' road network outside urban cores helping DfT with its upcoming consultation document on the new strategy. Some 50%-60% of British road deaths are expected to be found on this targetable network.
• The AA's heavily trafficked website features the Campaign and provides links to the campaign video.
• The IAM Trust Magazine has carried a focus on the campaign.
• Immediate past IHT President Mike Slinn is working with the Campaign to develop a training initiative to support the call for a National Safe Road Infrastructure Programme.
• The IHT and CSS are holding a conference New Directions for Route Safety on 25th November, to be addressed by the Road Safety Minister, that will feature the campaign.
• The Minister will give a keynote address at the IAM Annual Lunch on 4th December in London where he is expected to refer to the Campaign and make reference to the plans for a consultation document for the new strategy planned for the new year.
• Campaign partners are appearing at conferences around Britain and taking opportunities to call for safe road design and a national initiative.

During the past ten years a focus on route safety has emerged as one of the key developments in delivering road casualty reduction. A variety of innovations and intervention schemes have been designed and implemented, and there is some evidence of significant benefits being achieved in reducing traffic speeds and casualties. However, there is a wide variation in development, experience and evaluation of route safety management schemes. There is also some concern about the need to maintain progress on casualty reduction especially for the numbers killed or seriously injured on our roads. Policy makers will need to refresh road safety strategies, and practitioners learn from experience and share good practice whilst continuing to innovate. 

At this conference IHT and CSS (County Surveyors Society) are bringing together a combination of research and experience in this developing area of interest. Key topics will include the results from research commissioned by CSS on Route Safety Management, and progress on the government’s Rural Demonstration Projects. The programme will also feature the roles of the road user, technology, education and enforcement. 

The aim of the conference is to share the results of research, evaluation and experience and to inform the debate on the future approach towards managing route safety and engaging road users. There will be a session devoted to ideas from delegates with the opportunity to debate with a panel of experts in the field. 

Why You Should Attend

• The opportunity to share in good practice development and consider how to achieve  improved casualty reduction through route safety management.
• In 2009/10 Highway Authorities will be developing their next Local Transport Plans and funding bids to central Government for highways and transport infrastructure maintenance and improvement. The future role of route safety management will need to be considered in developing these plans.
• As we approach 2010 there will be new strategies and targets to consider for road safety casualty reduction. What part will your organisation play in terms of improving route safety? 

Who Should Attend

• Local authority elected members and officials concerned with highways & transport safety
• Local road safety partnerships
• Central and regional government officials
• Highways and maintenance contractors
• Highway and traffic engineering consultants
• Transportation planning consultants• Developers, urban designers and planners
• Police
• Fire & Rescue Services
• Academics and students 

Download the conference flyer with programme of speakers.

The International Road Safety Symposium, Making Roads Safe...Towards Zero Fatalities on the Road will be held in Chania, Crete, on Wednesday 29 October 2008. The event takes place during the week of biannual meetings of the International and European Road Assessment Programmes (iRAP & EuroRAP).

The Symposium, hosted by the FIA Foundation, the Commission for Global Road Safety, the Greek motoring organisation ELPA, EuroRAP and iRAP, brings together key figures in road safety to discuss topics including the Make Roads Safe Campaign, the OECD-ITF Expert Report Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe Road System, published on 14 October, the need for safe drivers in safe vehicles on safe roads, road safety in Crete, the relationships between tourism and road safety, the European Road Safety Agenda and road safety in Central and Eastern Europe. A draft programme can be downloaded here.

The keynote address will be given by Kostas Hatzidakis, Minister of Transport & Communications.

The Symposium will also host an exhibition of road safety campaigns.

EuroRAP members and partners will gather on 30-31 October for the biannual plenary sessions, including the 19th technical committee meeting. The two day event will include in depth discussions and presentations showing how:

• EuroRAP is being used to raise the profile of road safety,
• EuroRAP can demonstrate best practice and highlight design innovation in the approach and implementation of road safety engineering,
• the programme is being used in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe to show what needs to be done to reduce the toll of road deaths and serious injuries
• the tools, protocols and resources available within RAP worldwide can help define priorities for action and be embedded in national road safety strategies.

A joint initiative from the Transport Research Centre of the influential OECD and the International Transport Forum will move the importance of road design further up the international agenda by embracing the “Safe System” approach to transport design.  This new approach is being successfully used particularly in the Netherlands, Sweden and some Australian states. It ensures that, in the event of a crash, impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury.  

Commenting on the forthcoming launch of Towards zero : ambitious road safety targets and the safe system approach (17 Oct), John Dawson said : “While this approach still sees the road user as the weakest link in the transport chain – unpredictable and capable of error – it extends responsibility for road safety beyond the road user. It creates a holistic attitude where all those who are responsible for safety of  the road transport system – users, vehicle manufacturers and road authorities – accept and act on their responsibility to make roads safe.”

“It is along the lines set out in Towards Zero that the Campaign for Safe Road Design will continue to push for change and road death reduction in the UK,” said Dawson

The Campaign for Safe Road Design, a consortium of the UK’s leading road user, road safety and road design bodies, was launched in July this year.  It claims that Britain can cut its toll of road deaths and serious injuries by a third simply by investing in better road design, saving 30 lives or serious injuries a day and Britain’s economy £6bn a year.

According to the Campaign, a third of Britain’s serious injuries or fatalities on the roads are preventable over the next 10 years with just a modest investment – primarily in signs, lines, kerbing and barriers.

Notes

* World Health Organisation Estimate

Britain can cut its toll of road deaths and serious injuries by a third simply by investing in better road design, saving 30 lives or serious injuries a day and Britain’s economy £6bn a year. 

According to the Campaign for Safe Road Design (www.saferoaddesign.com), a consortium of the UK’s leading road user, road safety and road design bodies, and launched at the House of Lords today (8 July) a third of Britain’s serious injuries or fatalities on the roads are preventable over the next 10 years with just a modest investment – primarily in signs, lines, kerbing and barriers. 

In the last 10 years 375,000 people have been killed or seriously injured in road safe crashes in this country, bleeding away 1.5% of GDP annually: more than the UK’s spend on primary schools and double its spend on GPs. 

Britain can make huge social and economic wins as the government starts its 10-yearly road safety review.  In the last decade alone 375,000 Britons have been killed or seriously injured on the roads.  International research recommends that Britain pays special attention to the application of safe road design, particularly outside urban areas where most Britons die.

The Campaign for Safe Road Design aims to tackle the low awareness among the British public and policymakers as to how quick, simple and affordable it is to save life by treating the roadside hazards that can kill and maim.  Few other investments in the economy deliver a higher economic or social return - not least by reducing the burden of emergency treatment and long term care of people disabled in crashes.

This campaign launch event will include new research into the scale of the extraordinary opportunity that now exists in Britain to catch up with the best and save tens of thousands of lives and serious injuries. 

Programme 

8.15 am   Continental buffet breakfast begins

8.55 am   Move to seating

9.00 am   Introduction by Lord Dubs, Chair, Road Safety Foundation

9.10 am   Campaign aims: John Dawson, Chair, Campaign for Safe Road Design

9.20 am   Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Dept for Transport

9.30 am   Discussion

10.00 am  Close

A 13km section of road between Macclesfield and Buxton has been named as Britain’s most dangerous road.  The single-carriageway road has been the scene of 43 fatal or serious collisions since 2001, nearly three-quarters of them involving motorcyclists. 

According to Dr Joanne Hill who heads the Road Safety Foundation which carried out the research, despite Cheshire County Council’s best efforts to improve the safety of the road by introducing motorcycle-friendly crash barriers, motorcyclists treating the route as a “race track” have secured its unenviable position in the league of dangerous roads. 

When collisions involving motorcyclists are removed from the analysis, this 13km stretch moves from the highest risk road in the country to one of the safest.  Overall, if motorcyclist collisions are removed from the league table, the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield is revealed as the most dangerous road in Britain.  This 10km single carriageway running through countryside has poor forward visibility, is undulating and bendy with many of the crashes happening at bends and junctions, according to Dr Hill.    

“The fact that the Macclesfield to Buxton road tops the list of Britain’s most dangerous roads highlights the fundamental issue of road-user behaviour when it comes to safety.  However, poor road design and inadequate safety measures on the majority of the roads in the “most dangerous” list have contributed to a high proportion of the fatal or serious collisions each year,” says Dr Hill.  

“The majority of road authorities this year identified the need for significant funding for road safety improvements and maintenance of existing roads as the one thing which would make the biggest difference to reducing fatal or serious collisions on sections within their area.”  

This year’s ‘persistently higher risk’ roads are again concentrated in the North of England and the Midlands.  In addition, the results show the highest risk roads by Government Office Region.  

According to Dr Hill, although there has been an overall drop of 18 per cent in risk across the motorway and main road network in the past three years, the rating of motorways and the primary route network still causes major concern. 

“Despite significant advances in knowledge, engineering practice and road-safety countermeasures, 30 per cent of the primary A road sections do not achieve even the top two safest risk bands that we would expect as the minimum safety level for these strategic roads.  Also, 24 per cent of motorway sections fall outside the safest risk band,” says Dr Hill. 

Britain’s most improved road in this year’s analysis by the Road Safety Foundation is the A453 from the A38 to Tamworth in Staffordshire. This rural single carriageway has seen an 88 per cent drop in the number of fatal or serious collisions in the last six years, taking it from a medium risk road to one of the safest.  According to the Foundation, this has been achieved by introducing traffic lights, speed limit reductions and village pedestrian facilities. 

The full risk map, showing risk on motorways and primary ‘A’ roads will be available in all Collins Road Atlases from 7 July 2008.

Tables of the persistently higher risk roads and the most improved roads, and the high risk roads by Government Office Region, along with a risk-rated map of Britain’s roads are available at www.eurorap.org/gb2008