Policy Instruments for Managing EU Road Safety Targets: Road Safety Impact Assessment

• Main Authors: Alfredas Laurinavičius, Vytautas Grigonis, Rasa Ušpalytė-Vitkūnienė, Kornelija Ratkevičiūtė, Laura Čygaitė, Egidijus Skrodenis, Dago Antov, Janis Smirnovs, Birutė Bobrovaitė-Jurkonė
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: RTU Press 2012-03-01
• Series: The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering
• Subjects: road safety impact assessment; road safety; road safety measures; infrastructure project; initial planning or design stage
• Online Access: https://bjrbe-journals.rtu.lv/article/view/3598
• ISSN: 1822-427X; 1822-4288

The Directive 2008/96/EC of European Parliament and of the Council requires the establishment and implementation of procedures relating to road safety impact assessments, road safety audits, the management of road network safety and safety inspections by the Member States. Directive aims to develop procedures with the aim of increasing safety of road infrastructures. Road Safety Impact Assessment (RSIA) is an initial part of road infrastructure safety management systems. This article describes the scope of RSIA procedures, provides detailed recommendations on qualification of auditors, implementation and execution of procedures for the EU Member States. Road safety should play an important role when routes are being selected and safety awareness should be included in the decision making during the designing/planning stage. RSIA is a very beneficial tool that could increase transparency and availability of information, consequently, it leads all parties concerned to well-informed decisions.