The Role of the Regional Road Safety Engineer
The National Roads Authority is charged with the provision of a safe and efficient network of National roads. Road safety on the National road network is considered in two distinct ways:
- Incident Prevention
The new roads which are constructed to best practice standards, help to prevent and reduce road accidents and fatalities. - Incident Reduction
As well as providing new, safer roads, the NRA has an extensive road safety programme that aims to reduce the number and severity of accidents occurring on the existing network of National Roads. - The Regional Road Safety Engineer works with the Local Authority to help highlight locations on the existing network which are prone to accidents. These include areas that have an accident history or towns and villages which are known to have speed related accidents.
- Since 1994, the NRA, in conjunction with local authorities, has operated a programme where accident locations on the National road network are investigated and, if the road condition is believed to have been a contributory factor, appropriate engineering measures are put in place to improve the situation. This programme also exists for the Non-National roads where the Regional Road Safety Engineer works with the Local Authority to help highlight locations on the existing non-national roads that are prone to accidents.
- Traffic Calming Schemes aim to improve the safety of National roads where they pass through towns and villages. It has been found that the posting of speed limits alone on national routes passing through towns and villages, without any physical speed reducing measures, does not induce drivers to slow down enough. Traffic calming aims to reduce vehicle speeds by self-enforcing traffic engineering methods. Slower speeds result in fewer accidents.
The Regional Road Safety Engineer has responsibility for:
1. Administering the budget of the National Roads Authority Accident Remedial Measures programme and supervising local authority engineers in generation of appropriate schemes and implementation of the programme.
2. Administering the budget of the Department of Environment Low Cost Safety Improvement Works on Non National Roads programme and supervising local authority engineers in generation of appropriate schemes and implementation of the programme.
3. Administering the budget of the National Roads Authority Traffic Calming programme and supervising local authority engineers in generation of appropriate schemes and implementation of the programme.
4. Carrying out Road Safety Audits.
5. Providing assistance and expertise to local authority engineers on road safety matters.
6. Training of local authority engineers in the use of the national accident database, and providing assistance in its application.
7. Training and informing local authority engineers in the use of road safety engineering techniques, and providing assistance in their implementation.
8. Arranging training courses for local authority engineers in specific road safety related topics, as needed.
9. Administering the approval of Road Safety Audit teams for every scheme on the national roads and maintaining a register of schemes and qualified auditors.
10. Liaising with agencies and organisations involved in road safety.
11. Liaising with the Gardaí in the Collision Prevention Programme.
12. Researching new road safety engineering techniques and their effects.
13. Evaluating effectiveness of the road safety programme and producing and publishing relevant reports.Philip Durkin - Road Safety Engineer with Mayo National Roads Design Office
National Roads Authority Road Safety Information
What responsibility has the NRA for road safety?
The NRA is charged with the provision of a safe and efficient network
of National roads. Road safety on the National road network is considered
in two distinct ways:
1. The new roads, constructed to best practice standards, help to reduce road accidents and fatalities. In par ticular, motorways and dual carriageways are safer because the possibility of head-on collisions is almost eliminated. We estimate that approximately 50 lives per year will be saved when the 900km of motorways/dual carriageways listed in the National Development Plan are completed.
2. As well as providing new, safer roads, the NRA has an extensive road safety programme that aims to reduce the number and severity of accidents occurring on the existing network of National Roads.
If we are to successfully reduce the carnage on our roads, public par ticipation is vital and the facts relating to road accidents bear this out: road conditions only contribute to 20% of accidents while driver actions contribute to 80%. This delivers a strong message to all road users - Drive to live, not to die!Contributory Factors to Road Accidents:
Road Conditions 20%
Driver Actions 80%
Drive to live, not to die!
What about the safety of new road schemes?
Road safety audits have been required on all road schemes on National roads since early in 2001.
Road safety audit involves the evaluation of road schemes during design and construction to identify potential hazards that may affect any type of road user, and to agree the appropriate measures to eliminate or mitigate any such hazards.Why is traffic calming installed in so many towns and villages?
The traffic calming schemes funded by the NRA aim to improve the safety of National roads where they pass through towns and villages. It has been found that the posting of speed limits alone on national routes passing through towns and villages, without any physical speed reducing measures, does not induce drivers to slow down enough. Traffic-calming aims to reduce vehicle speeds by self-enforcing traffic engineering methods. Slower speeds result in fewer accidents.
The speed reductions are achieved by altering the appearance of the road on the approach to the town/village through the use of "gateways" and are maintained by further traffic management arrangements within the town itself. Towns and villages are selected for traffic calming based on the number and severity of the accidents that have occurred over the past number of years. Up to the end of 2002, traffic calming measures were installed in over 90 towns/villages.
An evaluation of the traffic calming schemes installed on National roads before the end of 1996 is currently being carried out and due to be published shortly.Are there targets for Road Accident Reduction?
Yes. In July 1998 the Government published "The Road to Safety", its strategy for road safety for the years 1998 to 2002. The primary target of the strategy is to reduce road accident fatalities by the year 2002 by 20% of their 1997 level (472) and to achieve a similar reduction (20%) in the number of serious injuries from road accidents (2,182 in 1997).The various parties involved in the strategy were: Department of Transport; National Roads Authority; An Garda Siochana;
National Safety Council; Medical Bureau of Road Safety; Local Authorities. The NRA will continue to play a key role in recording road accident fatalities and injuries under the Government's Road Safety strategy for the post-2002 period.
Who keeps records of the road accidents?
The NRA is responsible, under the aegis of the Department of Transport, for maintaining the national
records of road accidents. Each year the NRA publishes an analysis of all reported road accidents on Irish roads. This repor t,"Road Accident Facts", is based on road accident information supplied by An Garda Siochana to the NRA for processing and analysis.How does the NRA treat locations with a history of road accidents?
Since 1994, the NRA, in conjunction with local authorities, has operated a programme where accident
locations on the National road network are investigated and, if the road condition is believed to have been a contributory factor, appropriate engineering measures are put in place to improve the situation. The Government's "Road to Safety" strategy includes as a target that 400 accident risk locations be treated between 1998 and 2002.The Authority, in conjunction with local authorities, has met this target. The strategy also requires an evaluation of the effectiveness of previous accident reduction schemes. An evaluation of the schemes completed in 1994 and 1995 was published in 2001. 128 schemes were
completed in the two-year period and there has been a reduction of 20% in the number of accidents taking place at the treated locations, compared with the original target of 10%. In particular, the numbers of fatal and serious injury accidents have been reduced. The NRA is also actively assisting local authorities in the development of an accident reduction programme targeted at non-National roads ie. local and regional roads.What about Research?
The NRA has an ongoing road safety research programme that includes the studies listed below:1.Contributing to the monitoring of the Government's "Road to Safety" strategy.
2. Evaluating the benefits of Operation Lifesaver (a high enforcement strategy targeting speeding, drink-driving and seat-belt wearing, initiated in the Louth-Meath Garda Division, 1997).
3. Five year 'before' and 'after' analysis of the effectiveness of accident reduction schemes installed in 1996 & 1997.
Completed projects include:
1.Young Driver Accidents.
2. The Low Cost Remedial Measures Programme - Evaluation of Programme 1 schemes installed in 1994 & 1995.
3. Speed Survey 1999.
4. Seat Belt Wearing Survey 1999.
5. Five year 'before' and 'after' analysis of traffic calming schemes.
The findings of these studies are made available to the High-Level Group on Road Safety to assist the on-going review of the "Road to Safety" strategy.
The Authority also works closely with the Garda Siochana, the National Safety Council and local authorities in support of their road safety strategies and objectives.What else does the NRA do to improve safety on the National roads?
There is an ongoing programme to improve the signing and lining of all the National roads.
The NRA co-operates with an Garda Siochana in their Speed Detection Camera Programme that aims to curb excess speeds on the network.If you require more detailed information on any aspect of the NRA's road safety strategy or would like information on our publications, you can access this at the National Roads Authority website or by contacting the Communications Department at the following telephone number: 01 660 2511.
