The Safe Road System
Elements of the Safe Road System include the road network, that is, both the roads and everything that surrounds them such as signage, infrastructure, and the design of the road itself - for example, the risk of lane departure crashes is reduced by installing audible edge lines or rumble strips.
Other elements of safe road design include:
- Cycle lanes: protected bike lanes majorly reduce the risk of injury for bike riders and helps both drivers and riders alike feel safer.
- Roundabouts: often installed to improve safety at dangerous intersections, work by reducing collision angles and deferring energy. If two vehicles collide at an intersection, they are most likely to have a dangerous right-angle or T-bone crash. If the same two vehicles collide on a roundabout, they're more likely to sideswipe one another, which disperses the energy of the crash and reduces the force of impact. The safest roundabouts have designated lanes for people walking or riding a bike.
- Pedestrian crossings: safe road designs consider all road users, including those who walk or ride a bike. Features such as raised crossings, overpasses, underpasses, zebra crossings, and pedestrians lights at intersections are all designed for safety. Around the world, cities have trialled new crossings such as painting optical illusions at zebra crossings to make the crossing appear 3D, reducing vehicle speeds.
- Speed bumps and slow points: Road treatments such as speed bumps and slow points play an important role in reducing speeds in areas where road users often go too fast. They act as a reminder to slow down and be alert.
- Sealed shoulders (the side of the road) are instrumental in keeping regional roads safe as they help drivers maintain controls and traction in the event they leave the road. Road improvements along regional or rural roads often focus on sealed or widening the asphalt on the road shoulder, so cars have something to grip onto and to provide adequate space to pull-over in an emergency.
- Flexible barriers: One of the deadliest types of crashes are where a vehicle leaves the road and hits a solid object or oncoming vehicle. This is where flexible barriers come in. Often installed in place of solid barriers, they absorb a lot of crash energy and help slow a vehicle down to a gentle stop. They are strong enough to stop trucks and improve safety for the majority of road users. Motorcyclists however are more vulnerable, and so barriers are less effective in that case.
