Adoption of EU directive on road infrastructure safety and development of additional standards to manage safety on Ireland’s roads

This paper looks at the work undertaken in Ireland on updating and implementing design standards in compliance with the recent requirements set out in the EU Directive on Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM). These improved standards complement the actions in Ireland’s Road Safety Strategy (RSS) that aim to reduce road deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Issues dealing with the practical problems associated with collecting large volumes of data, during drive through route inspections, are addressed. Solutions described herein and adopted have helped resolve some of the challenges associated with this type of data collection programme. Significant progress has been made in this area over a relatively short period. The RISM programme in Ireland has moved from data collection through analysis and review. Currently there is a programme underway implementing solutions on the ground. In tandem with the inspection programme, the principles behind forgiving roadsides have been catered for in the design process and new guidelines issued. This philosophy sits well with the move to a safe systems approach, as set out in the Road Safety Strategy, currently in operation in Ireland. The guidelines and standards developed in recent years are expected to deliver substantial safety benefits. However the priority for now is ensuring these standards are disseminated to designers and programmes like the road safety inspection programme (RSI) put into operation. Beyond the design standards introduced for motorways and major interurban routes, this paper includes a section on Ireland’s new urban street standards. Other notable inclusions within the paper relate to the development of credible speed limits for the older legacy rural road network, in a progressive move away from a blanket speed limit based on road function. Ireland will continue to improve its road design standards and much of this work will be informed from Ireland’s participation with research as administrated by Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR TG Road Safety

Implementing road safety inspections in Ireland and initial results

This paper will focus on changes to the implementation of road safety inspections in Ireland following the requirement, under EU Directive 2008/96/EC on Road Infrastructure Safety Management, for the establishment of periodic road safety inspections (RSI) of existing roads, along with safety impact assessments, high accident concentration ranking and road safety audits (RSA). Ireland, along with fellow EU member states, were required to adopt guidelines ensuring road safety inspections were carried out by a competent entity in order to safeguard adequate safety levels for road infrastructure. By using a case study, this paper will outline the transition Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has made by embracing new technology. This proactive approach to improving road safety contrasts with the reactive ‘black spot’ approach based on historical collision data. Incorporating RSI and the additional requirements (e.g. RSA) of the Directive 2008/96/EC into existing design standards has provided TII complimentary tools to better enable designers’ effect positive change to the road environment in Ireland

Ireland: Implementing research outputs on safety management from CEDR (Conference of European Road Directors) research programme : paper 3

This paper focuses on how Ireland, through progressively sharing information and research with other road authorities in the international community, has developed and implemented innovative solutions in order to mitigate the impact of road deaths and serious injuries on its roads. Since 2006 Ireland, along with other European National Road Administrations (NRAs), has agreed to share its road research priorities and to open up research budgets via the CEDR group - Conference of European Road Directors - which facilitates information exchange and experiences of road-related issues at a European level. Among other achievements, this has enabled the organisation of successful transnational calls for research which, in turn, have delivered outstanding research projects which Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has implemented to target its road safety needs. This paper demonstrates how Ireland, through implementing the safe system approach as detailed within these research projects, is seeking to actively reduce road deaths by aiming to minimise the effects of human error along with looking to: - minimise the risk of vehicles leaving the carriageway (e.g. via delineation), - provide adequate recovery space when vehicles do run off the road, and, - ensure that any collision that does occur in the roadside will be with objects that limit the impact forces on vehicle occupants to minor levels (no fatal or serious injury outcomes). This paper also covers how these research topics were developed and implemented so as to complement existing design standards and to influence how designers and motorway operators regard road safety and the whole life cost of collisions