Highways Agency

Chapter 4 Safety on the Road

Improving safety for all road users

Indicator

The number of people killed or seriously injured on our network

Target

4713 (compared with the 1994/8 average of 4991)*

Performance

4549

Indicator

The number of slight casualties

Target

21.13 per 100 million vehicle kilometres (compared with the 1994/8 average of 21.76)

Performance

20.82

*adjusted baseline to take account of transfer of London roads to TfL

Solar-powered road studs

The Agency's network is one of the safest in the world, and its motorways are the safest roads in the country with the number of people killed on its roads having halved over the past 15 years. The Agency is building on this record and working to improve safety even further, using a combination of the measures below. The success of these measures is demonstrated by the fact that in 2000/01 the Agency easily exceeded its target by reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on its roads by 442 compared to the 1994/98 average. Slight injuries were also down by more than the target to 20.82 per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in 2000/01.

The Agency carries out an extensive programme of smaller scale local network management schemes, completing 283 in 2000/01 and delivering 33 early action schemes aimed at improving safety on motorways and trunk roads.

One example is the £2.5 million safety scheme at junction 6 of the eastbound M25. This included a new hard shoulder, installation of better lighting and three new gantries. These measures are expected to improve safety on this busy motorway.

The Agency carries out research into the causes of accidents, using the information to monitor the effectiveness of its safety schemes and identify ways to further improve safety for all road users. When major accidents happen, it is important that the Agency learns from them so they can be avoided if at all possible in the future.

In a tragic incident near Selby on 28 February 2001, a Land Rover and trailer left the M62 at the Little Heck bridge and came to rest on the East Coast main rail line, leading to the derailment of two trains and the deaths of 10 people. The Agency asked the Transport Research Laboratory to report on the road condition and this report was published alongside the interim report from the Health and Safety Executive on 6 March.

The Agency was subsequently asked by Ministers to review its standard for the provision of nearside safety barriers and formed a Working Group to look at this issue. It is also represented on a Health and Safety Commission Working Group looking at incidents where vehicles have blocked rail lines.

Digital Speed Camera

As the amount of traffic on the Agency's network increases, safety is evermore important. Properly maintained roads make a significant contribution to safer roads, e.g. salting the roads ahead of cold weather, removing debris and spillages, managing traffic at road works, installing 'rumble strips' and using skid-resistant materials where appropriate.

Many of the improvements the Agency is introducing to ease congestion will also contribute to improving safety. A large proportion of accidents occur at the back of queues when the average traffic speed suddenly drops. By keeping traffic moving, informing drivers through Variable Message Signs and responding quickly to incidents these types of accidents can be reduced.

Driving at inappropriate speed is a major cause of road accidents. In partnership with Nottingham City Council and the Police, the Agency installed 18 pairs of digital speed cameras on the A6154 and A610 near Nottingham. These cameras enforce the 30 and 40mph speed limits by measuring a vehicle's speed over a distance and do not rely on film, so they are always 'on duty'. This trial is already proving successful, and is expected to prevent 165 injuries over the first three years.

Mouson Bends, a winding section of the A1 in Northumberland, has benefited from the installation of 'intelligent' road studs. These are solar-powered self-illuminating studs, which store energy in a battery for use at night. They help drivers to judge the line of the road at night or in poor visibility and have already proved successful in improving safety at other locations.

The Agency is committed to improving road safety for all road users, not just drivers. It has opened a Pegasus crossing on the busy, dual carriageway A405 near Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire. This is a shared-use crossing, similar to the 'green man' Pelican crossings, which allows vulnerable road users such as horse-riders, cyclists and pedestrians to cross the road when the horse sign turns from red to green.

Case study: Solar-powered bollards

The Millenium Cycleway crosses the A550 trunk road in the Wirral at Ledsham, Cheshire. The site is 10 km (six miles), from Chester and three km (two miles) from Ellesmere Port, and is in a rural area with no street lighting.

A safe cycle crossing must be well lit, but installing access to a power supply at such a remote location would have proved prohibitively expensive. The Agency's engineers came up with an innovative solution using solar panels to provide illumination to twin bollards which operate from dusk till dawn. The system includes a 40-day standby supply to cope with the dullest days in the winter when there is very little sunshine to harness.

These solar-powered bollards, the first in the country, have been operating successfully for a year. This solution offers a cost-effective way of improving safety by providing illuminated cycle-crossing and right-hand-turn facilities at isolated junctions with no power supply.

Solar-powered crossing on the A550 at Ledsham, Cheshire