Road safety to 2010

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Road safety priorities for action

The actions taken to improve road safety, known as interventions, can be grouped according to whether they affect the road, the vehicle or the road user. They can govern who and what uses the network, or relate to the design and operation of the network itself.

However they are categorised, interventions set standards and rules for safety (including guidelines and the adoption of best practice measures, for example, improved skid resistance), or ensure compliance with those
standards and rules. To get compliance, we first need education to ensure that people understand the standards and rules. Enforcement is aimed at those who do not comply, and we can use performance assessment to provide incentives for compliance in the transport industry.

The strategy’s key priority areas for action involve:

• engineering safer roads
• reducing speed
• combating drink–driving
• dealing with serious offenders
• encouraging the use of safety belts
• improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists
• improving the vehicle fleet
• new and better targeted education initiatives.

Many of these priority areas have already been the subject of thorough research and analysis. Where possible, researchers in New Zealand and overseas have quantied the benefits of measures designed to improve safety in these areas.

The priority areas are the basis for our strategic targets. They will remain ‘live’ during the entire strategy, and will be regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure we use the most effective mix of interventions. As the strategy progresses, we may enhance initiatives that prove successful, or introduce promising new ones.

Engineering better roads

Engineering better and safer roads can not only prevent some crashes happening, but also improve people’s chances of escaping serious injury or death when a crash does happen.

However, engineering can never be a total solution for road safety. The cost would be prohibitive, especially on New Zealand’s extensive rural network where traffic is sparse. That said, we must keep working on improving our road infrastructure.

The network is already being progressively upgraded. For example, recent analysis of the Joint Crash Reduction Programme shows a 50 percent drop in fatal crashes and a 34 percent drop in injury crashes at 2,366 sites after low–cost engineering improvements were made. Transit New Zealand has an annual programme to monitor how skid resistant the road surface is, and makes improvements annually where necessary. The skid resistance measurement programme has resulted in the improved skid resistance of the state highway network, with an average 29 percent reduction in wet–skid crashes at the treated sites since
implementation in 1995.

Within the time frame of this strategy, Transit New Zealand will deliver over 130 safety–related projects. Of those, projects over $3 million are summarised in Appendix 2. Transit is developing and trialling a roadside hazard management programme to decrease injury should a vehicle leave the highway, and is also trialling the installation of median cable barriers on rural two–lane highways in passing lane sections, to decrease the incidence of head–on crashes. Minor works such as resurfacing roads, clearing vegetation, improving road markings, signage, and visibility at intersections can have a huge impact on safety. The integrated traffic management system operating in Auckland will assist the Police and emergency services in responding more quickly when crashes do happen.

It will become increasingly important to target safety engineering improvements effectively over the next decade. For example, although major urban roads and state highways comprise only 14 percent of the network length, they together account for 60 percent of the social cost of road crashes. Together with motorways, these roads are the most cost–effective for making safety improvements. Many busy roads are safer for each individual driver because they are built to a higher standard. Conversely, a low traffic road may need treatment and therefore be risky. But it may be difficult to justify expensive upgrading when there is little traffic. We need to target roads with both high risk and high cost density in order to make most efficient use of our road safety engineering dollars. On some roads, enforcement may be the answer.

Figure 8. Relationship between cost density and risk versus traffic flow
Source: Land Transport Safety Authority

Road controlling authorities will have to consider trade–offs between improving the infrastructure and enforcing safer behaviour. This is because both road engineering and enforcement relate to the design and operation of the network, and can therefore be directed to where the danger lies. For instance, if an unsafe stretch of road is too costly to re–engineer, using enforcement instead to lower vehicle operating speeds can achieve a similar safety outcome.

During the course of the 1990s, roading and vehicle improvements contributed on average about 20 percent of the total safety benefits achieved in road safety. Thirty–five percent of the state highway overall capital programmes have been based on safety benefits. Over the next few years there will be a stronger focus on safely designing and managing the road network. Considerable effort is now going into
establishing performance measures for the roads themselves and ‘risk profiling’ the network to provide a systematic picture of what needs attention. We are also working with road controlling authorities to develop safety management systems for their road networks, to ensure that safety is designed in, rather than added on later, and to explore the question of accountability for the safety of their networks. Safety engineering programmes will continue to provide considerable potential to improve crash rates. For example crash rates on wet roads can be reduced by improving skid resistance properties of roads. Innovative trials including roadside hazard mitigation, and the use of wire rope median barriers in narrow median strips, will provide useful information on low–cost engineering treatments.

Theme: Accommodating human error Road user behaviour contributes to most crashes, but we cannot focus entirely on trying to change people’s driving habits — the road itself and the vehicle must also be made safer. We recognise that, whatever we do to make road users more alert, law abiding and competent, some will still make mistakes. Vehicle design and construction increasingly protects drivers and passengers from crashes and injuries. We must also work on designing and operating a road network that better accommodates human error.

Reducing speed

Excessive speed contributes to about 30 percent of fatal crashes, and it increases injury severity in crashes with other causes. The better the road, the higher the speed that can be travelled safely on it. Because of New Zealand’s largely two–way, two–lane, undivided rural network, if we are to improve safety, we need to address either infrastructural investment or vehicle operating speeds.

Reducing actual vehicle speeds is one of the most effective ways of reducing road trauma. Lower speed tolerances and the highly visible Highway Patrol have already resulted in reduced average traffic speeds.
Road design can also contribute effectively to lower speeds, particularly in urban areas.

A one percent decrease in mean speed has been shown to reduce deaths by four percent and injuries by two percent (see Figure 9). It follows that the fall in the rural mean speed from 102.2 km/h in 1998 to
99.1 km/h in 2002 has translated into a safer road environment for everyone. Our highways have never been safer.

There are signs of hope in our efforts to curb speeding. Fewer New Zealanders (15–20 percent) now believe that there is not much chance of a crash if they are careful when speeding. There is strong support for speed cameras and speed limit enforcement as ways to reduce road deaths and injuries⁵. But too many people still travel too fast, and ignore the lethal impact of speed, with devastating consequences for drivers and their passengers, as well as for pedestrians and cyclists. Nine percent of rural drivers exceed 110 km/h and 15 percent of urban traffic is travelling at more than 60 km/h. A pedestrian hit by a vehicle travelling at 60 km/h has only a 10 percent chance of surviving, compared with a 35 percent chance at 50 km/h and a 95 percent chance at 30 km/h⁶

Figure 9. A one percent decrease in mean speed causes deaths to decline by four percent and injuries by two percent.
Source: Nillsson, G (1982). The effects of speed limits on traffic accidents in Sweden. VTI Sartryk, 68, 1–10

We need a comprehensive effort targeting inappropriate and excessive speed if we are to achieve the 2010 goals. Developing a New Zealand approach to reducing speed will include consideration of a range of measures designed to persuade people to lower their driving speed on both rural and urban roads, and to achieving a change of culture that makes speeding as unacceptable as drink–driving.

Combating drink–driving

Drink–driving deaths declined dramatically during the 1990s, from 318 in 1990 to 115 in 2000. This major public health success story is the result of compulsory breath testing, reinforced by targeted advertising and a massive community response to the needless harm caused by drink–driving. Tougher sanctions have also been introduced, with mandatory licence suspensions for high–end offenders and stiffer penalties reserved for repeat offenders.

Figure 10. Risk of driver fatal injury in New Zealand by age (relative to drivers aged 30 or more at a zero blood alcohol level).
Source: Keall, M D et al (in press). The influence of alcohol, age, and the number of passengers on the night–time risk of driver fatal injury in New Zealand. Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Current programmes will continue, but for all their success, over 100 people were still killed and 450 seriously injured in alcohol–related crashes in 2002.

Excess alcohol consumption has a serious impact on the community and is a proven danger on the road. This is particularly true for young drivers. New Zealand research shows that a 15–19 year old driver at the
current legal youth limit (30 mg/100 ml) is 15 times more likely to die in a night–time road crash than a sober driver aged 30 years or older. For a driver aged 20–29 years at the current legal adult limit (80 mg/100 ml), the risk is 50 times that of a sober driver aged 30 or older (See Figure 10).

The risks of a fatal crash while driving at the current legal limit are alarmingly high. This is not surprising, considering that the average male would need to consume about six standard drinks without food in 90 minutes to reach the current adult blood alcohol limit of 80 mg/100 ml. The evidence from other jurisdictions that have lowered their limit is that this reduces the number of alcohol–related crashes, including the number of crashes caused by drivers with very high blood alcohol levels.

We cannot afford to be complacent about our past success, and work is underway on the options for minimising alcohol–related harm.

Theme: Improving road user behaviour We have made much progress in improving road user behaviour. We will continue these efforts through education and by enforcing safety standards and holding irresponsible road users to account. Education shows people how to use the roads safely and tries to persuade them t change unsafe behaviour, while effective enforcement and appropriate penalties help deter people from potentially dangerous behaviour.

Dealing with serious offending

Serious traffic offenders are a high–risk group of people who drive very dangerously, offending repeatedly at high speed and/or at high alcohol levels, or who drive while disqualified or unlicensed. Although they do not make up a large group in terms of their actual numbers, these drivers are at fault in a disproportionate number of crashes. Serious repeat drink–drivers, for example, have been found to be three times more likely to be involved in an injury crash than normal drivers, and 1.3 times more likely than other convicted drink–drivers.

Thankfully, there have been notable successes in recent years. Since their introduction in 1999, roadside licence suspension and vehicle impoundment have contributed to a 38 percent reduction in disqualified driving offences detected by the Police, and a 25 percent reduction in unlicensed and disqualified drivers involved in crashes.

Work will need to continue across the transport, justice and health sectors, and at a community level, to rehabilitate repeat traffic offenders and find ways to make them change their driving behaviour. Work is also being done on assessing how well administrative penalties (that is, those not involving the court system) are aligned with the safety risk that irresponsible drivers pose. Further measures may be necessary, with immediate stiff penalties and immobilisation the key to deterring these offenders. We are determined to come down hard on serious and repeat offenders.

Figure 11. Since the introduction of roadside vehicle impoundment and
mandatory carriage of photo driver licences in May 1999, there has been
a marked decline in the number of disqualified drivers involved in fatal and injury crashes. But there is still room for improvement.
Source: Land Transport Safety Authority data (Crash Analysis System)

Encouraging the use of safety belts

Safety belts are highly effective in saving lives and preventing injury. People who do not buckle up have a significantly higher chance of dying in a crash (see Figure 12).

New Zealand has a relatively high rate of safety belt use, with the best recent improvements being an increase in back seat belt wearing rates from 58 percent in 1996–98 to 80 percent in 2002. This is the result of: national and community campaigns targeting both adult and child use of appropriate restraints; enforcement; and fines for non–wearers.

However, the rate of safety belt use could be further improved. The 2003 survey of front safety belt use by adults found eight percent of drivers and front seat passengers were unrestrained, a figure which has remained unchanged since 2001. Improvements can be made through increased enforcement, supported by education to persuade those who don’t wear them of their advantages and to remind wearers of the need to use them at all times.

Figure 12. Safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by around 40 percent. The risk is further reduced when they are combined with airbags.
Source: Evans, L (1991). Traffic safety and the driver. Van Nostrad Reinhold, New York

Improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists

Together, pedestrians and cyclists account for around 14 percent of all road deaths and more than a third of deaths on our urban roads.

We need to focus more on ensuring our road environments, particularly in urban areas, are safer for pedestrians and cyclists as well as for motor vehicle users.

Work is underway on a strategic framework for pedestrian and cyclist safety, developing standards and guidelines for road network design, and improving data–gathering and research capability. It is important to reduce vehicle speeds in built–up areas and educate all road users about the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. Meanwhile, a safe routes programme is also being developed for communities where pedestrians and cyclists are at high risk of injury, extending the existing Safe Routes to School approach to incorporate all ages.

Figure 13. At impact speeds over 30 km/h, pedestrians and cyclists risk sustaining life–threatening injuries. At 60 km/h, death is virtually certain.
Source: Data generated using Ashton’s 1982 formula, cited in Pasanen, E and Salmivaara, H (1993). Driving speeds and pedestrian safety in the city of Helsinki. Traffic Engineering and Control, June 1993

Improving the vehicle fleet

Vehicle safety features make a difference in a crash — people who are involved in a crash are half as likely to be killed or seriously injured as they were 30 years ago.

Along with a competitive vehicle market, consumers today have access to relatively cheap, safe vehicles. Over time, these vehicles tend to become more affordable to groups overrepresented in crash statistics. However, vehicle safety can be introduced more quickly. For example, we have sped up the introduction of frontal impact standards to the fleet by prohibiting imports of vehicles that do not comply.

The need to improve consumer awareness of vehicle safety is a key component of this strategy.

Figure 14. A car made in 2000 is far safer in a crash than one made in 1980, thanks to a range of built–in safety features. We expect vehicles to continue becoming safer.
Sources: Monash University Accident Research Centre (actual); Land Transport Safety Authority (forecast)

Other priorities

• Meeting the needs of young and novice drivers: New Zealand has led the world in establishing a
• graduated driver licensing system, and the Land Transport Safety Authority will trial and evaluate a new system for assessing novice drivers’ abilities.
• Addressing the needs of older drivers: work will continue on better ways to assess older drivers’ abilities, and on ways to help them make an informed decision on whether to retire from driving should that become necessary.
• Improving road safety for Maori and Pacific peoples: Maori and Pacific peoples will be encouraged to develop their own programmes addressing the road safety problems that affect their communities.
• Improving heavy vehicle safety: legislation introduced in 2002 aims to make heavy vehicles safer and more stable. Once applied throughout the fleet, the new standards should result in significant safety improvements, especially for logging trucks. We will continue to focus on ways to improve heavy vehicle safety, consistent with the New Zealand Transport Strategy, through an inter–agency Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy.
• Reducing driving fatigue: new fatigue rules make compliance for commercial drivers less time consuming, and better target the enforcement of maximum hours of operation. Alternative fatigue management programmes will be offered as an option for transport operators.
• Integrating road safety education: primary school pupils take part in the RoadSense programme as part of their day–to–day curriculum, laying the foundations for a new attitude to road safety.
• Boosting road safety advertising: this includes a new campaign to tackle unsafe behaviour at intersections.
• Improving the skills of road users: road user skills education has expanded to include hazard recognition skills, and the accumulation of driving experience before gaining a full driver licence.
• Facilitating community development: in the 13 years since its inception, the Community Road Safety Programme has been a notable success in building community involvement and enthusiasm
  for road safety.
• Trauma management: improved systems for treating crash victims from roadside to hospital will save
  lives, help prevent serious consequences of injury and facilitate recovery.
• Improving safety for motorcyclists: targeted research, and trials of community–based projects and new approaches to licensing and training will allow effective motorcycle injury prevention programmes to be developed.

Next steps

The core road safety priorities will continue to revolve around how safely the road is engineered, how effectively we educate road users and how well we enforce safe driving behaviour. But over time each
significant improvement in road safety will be more difficult to achieve. Our road safety priorities for action through to 2010 are set out above, but road safety agencies will continue to look across the spectrum for new ways to reduce deaths and hospitalisations on our roads.

The activities of the past few years, and the combined efforts of the central and local agencies involved in road safety, have given excellent results. However, there is no doubt that these activities alone will yield
diminishing returns. If we are to achieve the goals for 2010, we will need to implement new activities in engineering, education and enforcement. Development work is well underway to enable the government to decide how to make our roads safer during the middle phase of this strategy. Announcements will be made on specific measures to target our road safety priorities in the months following the release of this document.

Footnote

5 Land Transport Safety Authority 2002 Survey of public attitudes.
6 Ashton, S J (1982) Vehicle design and pedestrian injuries.

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Page created: 17 October 2003