Proven Safety Countermeasures | Crosscutting

19. Road Safety Audits

Road Safety Audits

A road safety audit is a proactive formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent and multi-disciplinary team.

SAFETY BENEFIT:

10-60%
Reduction in total crashes

Source: Road Safety Audits: An Evaluation of RSA Programs and Projects, FHWA-SA-12-037; and FHWA Road Safety Audit Guidelines, FHWA-SA-06-06.

While most transportation agencies have established traditional safety review procedures, a road safety audit (RSA) is unique. RSAs are performed by a multidisciplinary team independent of the project. RSAs consider all road users, account for human factors and road user capabilities, are documented in a formal report, and require a formal response from the road owner. (See the eight steps for conducting an RSA below.)

Source: FHWA

RSAs provide the following benefits:

• Reduced number and severity of crashes due to safer designs.
• Reduced costs resulting from early identification and mitigation of safety issues before projects are built.
• Improved awareness of safe design practices.
• Increased opportunities to integrate multimodal safety strategies and proven safety countermeasures.
• Expanded ability to consider human factors in all facets of design.

RSAs can be performed in any phase of project development, from planning through construction. RSAs can also be conducted on any size project, from minor intersection and roadway retrofits to large-scale construction projects. Agencies are encouraged to conduct an RSA at the earliest stage possible, as all roadway design options and alternatives are being explored.

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/provencountermeasures.

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