Go Safe on Scotland's Roads: road safety framework to 2020

Chapter Nine
Designing for human error on the roads

The responsibility for road design and maintenance in Scotland is divided between Transport Scotland, which is responsible for Scotland's trunk road network, and local authorities which are responsible for the local roads within their own areas.

In addition to road engineering, this Chapter covers vehicle engineering and technology and outlines the part they both can play in road safety.

9.1 Trunk Roads

Because Scotland's trunk road network is of strategic importance it comes under the authority of Scottish Ministers. The trunk road network is vital because it connects our cities and rural communities as well as providing strategic links to the ports and the islands. Transport Scotland manages the trunk road and rail networks and their interfaces. Its responsibilities also include high level policy determination of the future investment strategy, as set out in the Strategic Transport Policy Review. This takes safety into consideration at all levels.

The Issues

Although the trunk road network represents just over 6% of the total Scottish road network, it carries 37% of all traffic and 62% of heavy goods vehicles. Around 16% of injury accidents occur on the trunk road network each year.

A road's design has a major influence on its safety performance. The features of the roads themselves affect the likelihood and severity of accidents. Humans are fallible and, in recognising that road users will make mistakes, we must acknowledge the need to design out or protect the features that result in death and serious injury.

Analysing accident histories shows us that the four main accident types that result in death and trauma are: hitting an off-road fixed object; head-on collisions; accidents at junctions and accidents involving vulnerable road users. The potential to improve the safety performance of a stretch of road is influenced by its accident rate and the feasibility of improving its road features.

What we do now

Safer road design, improved speed management, continued maintenance and a better provision for vulnerable road users are amongst the steps being taken to reduce injuries and fatalities on Scotland's trunk roads. The Strategic Road Safety Plan ⁵⁹ sets out how Transport Scotland delivers safety. It includes an Action Plan setting out how its specialist Strategic Road Safety Unit will deliver the Agency's targeted safety objectives. It highlights the need to remove risk and prioritises initiatives aimed at preventing accidents and mitigating the effects when accidents do occur.

Significant progress has been made in road safety and Transport Scotland will continue to exploit those methods that have delivered improvements in recent years. However, greater innovation is now needed in the approach we adopt. Transport Scotland's intention is to complement the existing activity with more proactive methods in order to further improve the safety performance of the Scottish trunk road network. The Action Plan details the ways in which the Strategic Road Safety Unit aims to successfully deliver the improvements needed to meet casualty reduction targets beyond 2010. The key themes of the Action Plan are:

• Analysis and Knowledge
• Risk Reduction
• Vulnerable Road Users
• Research and Development
• Speed Management
• Working with Partners
• Continuous Improvement

In 2007/08, the Strategic Road Safety Unit invested £6 million through a dedicated road safety budget. However, this is a small proportion of the total amount being invested through Transport Scotland where substantial engineering programmes are also delivering significant safety engineering improvements.

Transport Scotland is continually improving the analysis of trunk road accidents and is undertaking research to inform how best to target investment at mitigating the four main accident types. Road Protection Score Surveys, under the EuroRAP ⁶⁰ Star Rating protocol, have already been undertaken for one-third of Scotland's trunk road network and a programme is being developed to survey the remainder of the network.

We want to find out how to reduce the disproportionate impact on drivers and passengers when their vehicles leave the road and collide with off-road fixed objects, such as trees and walls, following relatively minor mistakes.

Some of the things Transport Scotland already does include: replacing larger signposts with signs which crumple on impact; providing and modernising road restraint systems; and managing the risk of vehicle collisions with trees.

The nature of much of the single carriageway network is such that overtaking opportunities are few and far between. The resulting frustration can lead to drivers accepting risky overtaking manoeuvres that all too often end with the serious consequences of head-on collisions. Transport Scotland has an extensive programme of upgrades to provide safe overtaking opportunities across the rural network. This is being done by providing 2+1 single carriageways which have dedicated overtaking opportunities.

Accidents occurring at grade junctions can be very severe. When a vehicle travelling at high speed hits a vehicle turning at low speed the result can be devastating. There are a number of ways to address the problem from closing junctions to converting the junction to a roundabout.

Many junction improvement schemes on the trunk road network are targeted specifically at road safety. A good example is the addition of seven new interchanges on the A90 between Perth and Forfar where surface level junctions with poor accident histories have been replaced with grade separated (flyover) junctions to allow safer movements to, from and across the A90. Each proposed scheme is assessed systematically and consideration is given to such issues as safety, environment, economy, integration, social inclusion and accessibility. All these factors are considered in prioritising schemes. The schemes invariably provide significant accident savings.

In addition, road restraint systems are installed throughout the network to protect drivers and riders from a range of potential hazards such as large signs, water courses, steep embankments, and bridge abutments. The most common type of vehicle restraint system is the safety barrier.

The design and detailing of barriers is under constant review from many interested groups, e.g. motorcyclists, pedestrians and disabled road users. Improvements include crumple barrier and safety cushions at the start terminals. These barriers absorb much of the energy from impacts and reduce injury severity.

Maintaining the road network in Scotland is also a vital part of ensuring the safety of the network. Each element of the maintenance regime plays an important part in providing a safe driving environment. Cyclical reviews of the road surface, infrastructure features, and foliage cutbacks, as well as an annual winter service programme, are used to ensure that potential hazards are identified.

Having a sound knowledge base is essential to setting future road safety actions. Transport Scotland is forming Route Safety Groups for each of the trunk road routes. Participation from relevant road safety partners such as local authorities, police forces, emergency services, safety camera partnerships and others will be critical to the success of the initiative. The groups will develop a sound knowledge base made up of five key components: route information and contacts; accident analysis; stakeholder and community issues; scheme programmes (safety, minor and major improvements, etc); and technical projects and initiatives.

Traffic Scotland forms part of the Network Operator Role within Transport Scotland, alongside the Strategic Road Safety Unit and the Development Management team. The Network Operations team's activity helps to deliver a road network than can be used for safe and reliable journeys.

Network Operations manages the Traffic Scotland service which uses a wide range of Intelligent Transport Systems to deliver its three core functions of monitoring, controlling and informing across Scotland's trunk road network, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Traffic Scotland monitors and communicates information on around 15,000 unplanned incidents on the network annually, including breakdowns, accidents and severe weather events, thereby helping to minimise the impact of these incidents on the users of the network.

Through utilising the automatic queue detection and lane control signalling systems in place on the most heavily trafficked sections of the motorway network, the risk of secondary incidents is minimised. Variable Message Signs ( VMS) in overhead gantries and roadside signs convey to approaching motorists up-to-date information on current incidents.

Traffic Scotland also supports various year-round road safety campaigns through displaying appropriate message legends on the network of VMS signs, for example, 'Don't Drink and Drive'. In future, it is proposed to take a more targeted approach to background message legends on the VMS to try and address specific road safety concerns on particular routes on the network.

The Trunk Road Incident Support Service ( TRISS) aims to help reduce congestion and improve safety on the network by providing a bespoke service to improve response times to incidents such as emergencies, debris removal and assistance with broken-down vehicles. These operations are undertaken in partnership with the police. A TRISS service is currently operational in the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas. Transport Scotland is currently examining the possibility for roll out beyond these areas. A new service, covering major arteries in Fife commenced on 6 April 2009.

What we need to do next

Looking to the future, Transport Scotland's Strategic Transport Projects Review supports the Scottish Government's purpose of promoting sustainable economic growth by planning the next 20 years of transport investment for Scotland's rail and trunk road networks.

Strategic Transport Projects Review The outcome of the STPR was announced in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 10 December 2008. The review identified 29 major packages of work across Scotland which were developed in line with a three-tiered investment hierarchy: Investment aimed at maintaining and safely operating existing assets; Investment promoting a range of measures, including innovative solutions, to make better use of existing capacity, ensuring the existing road and rail networks are fully optimised; and Investment involving targeted infrastructure improvements. In the context of maintaining and safely operating existing assets Transport Scotland has developed, and is delivering, a Strategic Road Safety Plan to implement measures on the trunk road network in order to reduce the rate and severity of road accidents on Scotland's trunk roads ( STPR Project 1). In addition, a package of measures has been identified to improve safety on key routes in North and West Scotland ( STPR Project 4).

The following schemes demonstrate the variety of projects and scale of investment currently going into road infrastructure to create a Safer Scotland.

M74 Completion The M74 Completion will continue the M74 motorway from Fullarton Road Junction, near Carmyle, to the M8 motorway west of the Kingston Bridge. It is anticipated to open in 2011, completing the missing link between the two motorways. The new eight kilometers (five miles) stretch of road will have a positive impact on road safety by transferring traffic from local roads onto the M74. This is expected to reduce the number of accidents by between 525 and 700 in the first 20 years after opening. Safety will be further enhanced by facilitating the development of strategies to allocate previously congested road space to cyclists and pedestrians and by promoting the introduction of traffic management and traffic calming schemes.

A96 Fochabers and Mosstodloch A scheme to bypass the two towns of Fochabers and Mosstodloch which are currently bisected by the A96 is due to start in July 2009 at an estimated cost of approximately £30 million. Fochabers in particular will benefit especially from this scheme as it lies within a conservation area and is home to a number of listed buildings. The completion of this scheme will not only improve journey times along the busy trunk road corridor between Aberdeen and Inverness, but also give the residents of both communities significant relief from noise, pollution and community severance. Potential conflict between strategic trunk road traffic (particularly heavy goods vehicles) and town traffic and its associated pedestrian movements will be eliminated. The facility will add to the recently completed accident reduction measures installed on the route and provide safer overtaking opportunities for traffic in tandem with the original six climbing lanes that have been converted to give dedicated overtaking opportunities.

Commitments

Transport Scotland, in partnership with other stakeholders where required, will:

• Undertake Road Protection Score Surveys, for the remaining two-thirds of Scotland's trunk road network and determine how this information can complement the existing processes within the road safety engineering programme.
• Continue to consider and implement a range of proactive risk removal strategies to reduce the severity and frequency of impacts with hazards.
• Continue to invest in providing 2+1 overtaking opportunities.
• Consider the most appropriate barriers to protect vulnerable users such as motorcyclists.
• Continue to invest in junction improvement schemes.
• Rank the worst performing junctions on the trunk road network, by accident frequency and severity over the last ten years, and prepare a programme to improve selected locations.
• Develop Route Safety Groups for each of the trunk road routes with participation from relevant road safety partners such as local authorities, police forces, emergency services, safety camera partnerships, etc.
• Examine the possibility for further rollout of TRISS.
• Implement the Strategic Transport Projects Review including:

• Transport Scotland's Strategic Road Safety Plan;
• Road Safety Improvements in North and West of Scotland;
• Route Management;
• A82 targeted road improvements;
• Road safety improvements in North and West Scotland;
• A9 upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness;
• A96 from Inverness to Nairn Upgrade;
• Targeted Road Congestion/ Environmental Relief Schemes; and
• Dundee Northern Relief Road.

9.2 Local Roads

"There is considerable research evidence suggesting that improving the road environment through safer road design has the greatest potential to reduce casualties. The use of passively safe roadside furniture, increased roadside protection along with improved signing and markings could significantly contribute to reduce accidents on rural roads."
(Local Authority)

The Issues

Local roads cover a diverse range of road types from busy towns and cities to rural and strategic routes linking adjoining local authority areas. Local roads must cater for all types of traffic including buses, cars and HGVs as well as more vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Many of the issues relating to local roads have already been covered in previous Chapters. Additionally, many of the issues relating to trunk roads also apply to local roads. Safer road design, continued maintenance and better provision for vulnerable road users are at the forefront of local authority efforts to reduce casualties. So the issues are both numerous and diverse.

What we do now

Local authorities have a duty under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Act 1988 to promote road safety in conjunction with the Chief Constable for their area. They must investigate road accidents and take steps to reduce and prevent accidents. The actions taken by the local authorities to comply with the Acts are generally set out in local Road Safety Plans.

When designing and constructing new roads, local authorities must consider what measures to take to reduce the possibilities of road accidents.

As ACPOS leads on enforcement and RSS leads on education, so the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland ( SCOTS) lead on engineering input to local road safety.

A working group of SCOTS ⁶¹ commissions independent consultants to undertake a rolling systematic survey - the Scottish Road Maintenance Conditions Survey - to provide consistent information on the condition of the roads in Scotland. The results of the survey are used to classify the road network on the basis of a green, amber and red status report. This informs roads authorities about which roads are considered to be in an acceptable condition (green), those that require further investigation to establish if treatment is required (amber) and those that are considered to have deteriorated to a point where they should be considered for repair (red). Local authorities then determine what remedial action to undertake.

When designing roads infrastructure, roads authorities use the general principles contained within the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges: www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb The Designing Streets Manual mentioned in Section 6.2 will also shape road design of local roads over the coming years.

The Scottish Government has promoted legislation to improve the planning, co-ordination and quality of road works in Scotland. This is contained in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 and subsequent Regulations and Codes of Practice. The safety of road works sites forms part of the approach to improving standards and we will continue to maintain an overview, along with the road works community, of the effectiveness of the current arrangements. The Scottish Road Works Commissioner was appointed in July 2007. More information can be found at: www.roadworksscotland.gov.uk

Road traffic accidents in Scotland, resulting in injury, have reached their lowest level for 50 years. This has in part been achieved by addressing road safety issues at specific locations on the road network often referred to as 'accident blackspots'. As a consequence of this success road accidents are now geographically dispersed with some roads experiencing a higher rate of accidents than others. The accidents generally do not have a single cause but are the consequence of a number of factors such as inappropriate speed, driver behaviour and road conditions, all acting together to contribute to a relatively high accident frequency along the route. A route safety strategy to try to tackle all of these issues has been set up on the A811.

A811 Route Safety Strategy The A811, which runs in an east-west direction between Stirling and Drymen, has a high accident frequency that cannot easily be attributed to a common cause. In parts the road is wide and relatively straight, which encourages fast driving. In other locations the road narrows, there are tight bends and undulations that need to be negotiated in an appropriate manner. Several minor roads intersect the A811 and there are numerous farm and field accesses onto the road. There is no one solution to the accident frequency along the A811. However, a comprehensive route safety strategy has been developed between Stirling Council, Central Scotland Police and Central Scotland Safety Camera Partnership, which is designed to address the range of factors that are contributing to the accidents. Under the Strategy, each of the partners have agreed to carry out the following: Central Scotland Police will carry out increased patrols on the road to detect and deal with a range of road traffic offences. The Central Scotland Safety Camera Partnership will establish a number of camera sites along the route for more targeted enforcements of the speed limits. Stirling Council will continue to improve the standard and consistency of road signs and markings along the route. They will also carry out road carriageway improvements at identified locations. The accident frequency along the route will be closely monitored for a minimum of three years after implementation. If the partnership approach is shown to be successful then consideration will be given to promoting it throughout Scotland.

What we need to do next

We want to continue to work closely with local authorities through organisations such as SCOTS and the Improvement Service for Local Government to develop and share best practice in delivering safe roads for the travelling public.

Commitments

In Government, and in partnership with local authorities and the Improvement Service, we will:

• Continue to seek improvements to the planning, co-ordination and implementation of safety measures at roadworks through Codes of Practice and further legislation if necessary.
• Produce a best practice guide with SCOTS for carrying out safety audits by reviewing current local authority procedures.
• Encourage and promulgate research and guidance in the engineering field through SCOTS.
• Monitor and evaluate the progress of the A811 route safety strategy and, if successful in the reduction of casualties, encourage rollout across Scotland.

9.3 Safer Vehicles

The Issues

Many people are unaware of how important their choice of car is to future safety. Often, the decision on which car to buy is based entirely on cost and model. What is not fully considered is that older vehicles often lack many of the safety features which are fitted as standard on some newer models. These new technologies, e.g. anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control, etc. can mitigate the effects of driver error and help reduce casualty severity.

Car safety has a part to play in casualty reduction:

• Research in 2000 ⁶² suggested that an occupant's relative risk of serious or fatal injury might be reduced by as much as 12% for each EuroNCAP occupant protection star awarded.
• Observational studies ⁶³ have suggested intrusive seat belt reminders might increase their use to over 99% from only 82% wearing without the reminders.
• A UK study ⁶⁴ showed that cars fitted with electronic stability control are 25% less likely to be involved in a fatal accident.

What we do now

There are several guides and websites that describe various safety features which are available in cars including the RoSPA and DfT Guide 'Vehicle Technology: a Manager's Guide.' ⁶⁵ This describes the role and types of safety features available through vehicle technology.

European New Car Assessment Programme ( EuroNCAP) EuroNCAP car safety performance assessment programme publishes safety reports on new cars, and awards 'star ratings' based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians. EuroNCAP's aim is to provide motoring consumers - both drivers and the automotive industry - with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe. Prospective car buyers can compare safety performance of cars and view films of their crash tests at: www.euroncap.com .

Seatbelt Reminder Systems
These systems detect if a seatbelt is fastened in an occupied seat and, if not, provides an alert to the occupant. The alert may take the form of a simple warning light on the dashboard, or be an audible alarm activated when the vehicle has reached a particular speed or travelled a pre-determined distance. Although more common for the driver's seat, many vehicles also include passenger seat warnings.

Electronic Stability Control ( ESC)
This is a safety feature which senses when a vehicle is veering from its intended direction. Should this happen ESC automatically applies braking to selected wheels individually to take the car back to its planned course, thus reducing the likelihood of accidents involving skidding and/or overturning.

The EC impact assessment suggests that ESC can reduce accidents by more than 20% in normal conditions and more than 30% in wet or icy conditions. It has been available on some cars for around ten years and costs have been reducing due to improved technology and increased volumes. A UK study on passenger cars equipped with ESC supports the Commission findings. DfT research showed it to be effective in reducing 25% of fatalities when compared to non- ESC equipped cars. The European Commission's proposal mandates future fitment of ESC to all vehicle types.

Advanced Emergency Braking System
This employs sensors to monitor the proximity of the vehicle in front and detect situations where the relative speed and distance between two vehicles indicates that a collision is imminent. In such a situation, automatic systems can activate the vehicle's brakes to slow the vehicle and so either reduce the impact severity or avoid the accident altogether.

Close-Proximity Lenses on HGVs
From 31 March 2009 most HGVs registered after 1 January 2000 will be required to be fitted with close-proximity lenses to help improve the road safety of vulnerable road users. HGVs registered after January 2007 are required to be fitted with these lenses from date of first registration. This leaves a fleet of some 200,000 vehicles which will need close-proximity lenses to be retrofitted.

What we need to do next

We want everyone who is thinking of buying a car to be aware of the various in-car safety measures available and the effect they have in preventing accidents and in reducing the severity of injuries. We want people to make an informed choice when purchasing a car that includes considering the safety of both car occupants and other road users.

We want to set the example in government by buying and hiring cars which have high EuroNcap ratings, low emissions and low engine sizes for use on official business. We encourage all partners to do the same.

Commitments

In Government, and in partnership with other stakeholders, we will:

• Signpost information for car buyers to help them to make informed safer and greener choices.
• Ensure that all new cars purchased or hired by the Scottish Government have a high EuroNCAP rating, low engine size, low emissions and are fuel efficient.
• Support EC recommendations to include safety features in new cars as standard.
• Encourage and support the fitting of close-proximity lenses on HGVs.

What we all can do

• Check out the EuroNCAP ratings for cars we are considering buying and make an informed choice regarding safety features.