On the efficient use of Road Safety Inspections on rural roads

Road safety on the trans-European road network (TERN) is continuously assessed and improved under Directive 2008/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Road Infrastructure Safety Management by means of Road Safety Inspections (RSI), an effective intervention conducted by specifically trained and certified experts, who systematically scan existing roads for potential risks. For Austrian rural roads, a network 40 times the length of the Austrian part of the TERN, there is no such inspection obligation. Yet about 50 % of all road accidents in which people are injured occur on rural roads. Nonetheless, subjecting the complete rural road network to RSIs is neither necessary nor practicable. The objective of this research was therefore to develop and test theoretical methods for detecting and prioritizing sections of the road that would benefit most from such inspections. The findings (high-risk sections, mostly suitable for low-cost-measures) of one method were verified by an RSI and a comparison to low-risk sections.