Author(s)

D. O’Cinneide & L. Harrington

Abstract

This paper proposes that road safety investment can be optimised by the development of a road safety management model. Road safety strategies typically include a basket of engineering, enforcement and education/training measures but there does not appear to be any management model which permits the optimisation of road safety investment. The proposed model utilises linear programming to predict changes in road safety resulting from safety interventions. It is mainly based on research in the areas of engineering and enforcement since there is little published research on the correlation between education and accident reduction. The model output provides the accident reduction and associated costs resulting from feasible road safety strategies. This should benefit policy makers when allocating resources. Keywords: road safety management model, road safety policy, performance indicators, linear programming. 1 Introduction The three countries with the safest roads in Europe, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, implement comprehensive road safety strategies that involve local authorities, road users, emergency services, enforcement agencies, etc. Such strategies require a management system to optimise road safety levels. This paper proposes a linear programming technique to assist in the optimisation of resources. Safety countermeasures that could be implemented in a road safety strategy are first examined. The selection of safety performance indicators is then discussed. Both safety countermeasures and performance indicators are then

Keywords

road safety management model, road safety policy, performance indicators, linear programming.