Road Safety Audits
How often do you put yourself in other people’s shoes? Imagine your shoulders stiffening, like those of a cyclist as he’s forced into traffic by cars parked in a narrow bike lane. Feel the rapid heartbeat of a frazzled commuter, running late to work, as she speeds through a fading yellow traffic light. Now shrink your height to that of a five-year-old on her way to school as she dashes across the street, its faded crosswalk markings going unnoticed by both her and the incoming driver.
Each moment captures a single snapshot of how different people use the same stretch of roadway. When design engineers assemble these snapshots, the full picture provides a better understanding of how a street is used and how it may be falling short.
To accomplish this more human-centered vision of road safety, engineers can incorporate Road Safety Audits (RSAs) as a critical step in the design process.
An RSA is a collaborative, proactive process designed to identify safety concerns early in a project’s development. They also challenge engineers to pound the pavement with people who use that roadway daily to brainstorm immediate and long-term improvements.
Why Conduct an RSA? The Safety Benefits
The inherent danger of a roadway cannot be overstated. Every second of momentum carried by a multi-ton vehicle is enough to cause serious harm in the blink of an eye. While a roadway’s design may seem orderly on paper, human behavior can make the road unpredictable.
There are approximately 43,000 fatal car collisions on U.S. roadways each year. When a roadway is built to match behavior and mitigate mistakes, that design saves lives.
In an evaluation of five project areas where RSA programs were completed, the Federal Highway Administration reported a total crash reduction between 10 to 54 percent. Of those evaluated RSA programs, each project had a Benefit-to-Cost ratio indicating the benefits outweighed the associated costs, likely saving money through early identification and quick mitigation of the project area’s safety issues.
But a roadway’s design isn’t just about saving lives and tightening budgets; it’s about improving the quality of life for those who use it. An RSA could shine light on a community’s growing cycling population who may benefit from an added bike lane or the need for crosswalks in a downtown corridor to increase foot traffic to nearby businesses.
When members of the community see their suggestions incorporated into a roadway’s final design, they are more likely to use it as intended. An RSA also promotes stakeholder engagement by allowing people to have a direct say in what happens on their own streets, raising the likelihood of the final plan’s public support.
The RSA Process: Shared Accountability
The RSA assembles an independent team of local roadway users to visit the project site, identify areas of concern and develop a formal list of safety-focused recommendations. Those insights are shared with the design team, who will consider ways to incorporate them into the project’s final design. In this way, the engineer and roadway user become partners, ensuring an additional level of shared accountability.
- Assemble the Team
The best RSA members are those who regularly use the roadway and witness its challenges and misuses, such as delivery drivers, nearby business owners or members of law enforcement. They can also be community leaders, such as individuals who belong to a local school board, large congregation or city council. By including elected officials or people with a similar position of influence, they can communicate concerns they have heard from a variety of sources.
Beyond everyday users, a valuable addition to any RSA team is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Safety. Whether participating on-site or remotely, SMEs bring a depth of technical knowledge that can uncover nuanced risks and suggest data-driven improvements. They complement the RSA team’s lived experiences with a systematic evaluation of design standards and safety tools.
Another key member is the facilitator. This person typically has a background in safety and may be involved with the project’s design team. Their role is to organize the members, accompany them to the site and pose open-ended questions where roadway users can contemplate safety challenges and observe hazardous features. - Conduct Field Reviews
Once the team is assembled, members conduct one to two field reviews. If the project schedule allows, it is ideal for one visit to be held in the daytime and another at night, dawn or dusk, so members can observe potential concerns that may be overlooked under the full sun. If a field review is not able to be done, the RSA can still continue, with the reporting and observation process being conducted through discussions among the multidisciplinary, independent team members. The members can discuss safety concerns they have witnessed throughout their lived experience in the area. While a bit more difficult, this RSA on paper can prove to be just as valuable.
Some examples of flagged safety concerns are inadequate street lighting, poor sight distance or hazards that may force users into the road. While a traditional engineering assessment might identify similar hazardous features at a project site, some key safety concerns may only be identifiable by those who use that roadway across various seasons. - Present Findings & Final Report
Once the field reviews are completed, the RSA team will condense project photos and observation notes into a list of recommendations. The team will then present their findings, requiring a formal response from the design team.
The design team incorporates those findings into the final design. When recommendations cannot be accommodated, the design team will communicate the reasons to the project owner for future consideration.
Equity on the Roadway
Roadways are traversed differently depending on one’s abilities and needs. Someone who uses a wheelchair might notice that a ramp leads into a dangerous traffic area. A parent might point out that a crosswalk near a school lacks sight visibility when viewed from the height of an elementary school student. These oversights can be avoided early in the design process by involving people who have different levels of capability and mobility needs. This collaboration ensures the final design reflects how everyone experiences a roadway.
Finding a broad spectrum of perspectives to incorporate in an RSA can be difficult. In the absence of a particular user perspective, incorporating technology and ingenuity can be an alternative way to uncover risks. An example of this is child-perspective simulation eyewear, which can be made from cardboard, tape and mirrors. Once constructed, it enables the user to experience the world from a child’s height level with the associated visual focus areas and sight limitations.
Ultimately, a roadway is only as safe as it is inclusive. By intentionally embracing diverse voices and technological insights within the RSA process, we, as engineers, can design streets that work as well in practice as they do on paper.
The Process in Progress: B&N’s Impact in Kentucky
An ongoing RSA in Spencer County, Kentucky brought Burgess & Niple engineers to a busy corridor near a high school with approximately 1,000 students.
Despite the school’s proximity to a signalized crosswalk, the lack of a direct and walkable route to that crossing leads students to use the much more direct but unsignalized crossing at the school entrance, where they cross through active vehicle and bus traffic to return home and reach nearby restaurants and businesses. This crossing heavily relies on the assistance of a School Resource Officer (SRO) to direct both foot and vehicle traffic.
As part of the RSA process, B&N assembled and facilitated a team of city officials, school administrators, law enforcement agents and district highway personnel. The SRO, who witnessed the street’s misuses daily, provided critical insight as an RSA team member. Two site visits, one at student dismissal with another taking place during early morning arrival, helped prioritize areas to focus improvement efforts.
The site’s safety challenges are complex, including a general lack of pedestrian infrastructure that supports the area’s growing community. Concerns over traffic congestion and poor sight visibility were also identified.
The team discussed potential immediate improvements with a path to long-term, context-sensitive solutions. This includes potentially restoring or improving pedestrian crossings and ADA-compliant facilities; reconfiguring lanes to improve traffic flow; and adding more signage and markings. The RSA team’s insights have also spotlighted opportunities for smaller projects in the area, such as completing an existing but stalled sidewalk project or building a simple walking bridge over an often muddy ditch between the school and the road.
The RSA team is currently finalizing their findings. The report will soon be submitted to the project team for consideration and potential implementation.
B&N Can Help
By implementing RSAs, roadway safety grows beyond the limitations of checking a box during the design process. They help ensure that safety remains an early and ongoing conversation throughout the project where everyone of various ages, capabilities and backgrounds is brought to the table.
Contact us to learn more about how to incorporate an RSA into your project.
