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A study from the University of the Sunshine Coast has shown what we all suspected - that exposure to material encouraging speeding increases actual speeding rates in drivers.   628 Queensland motorists (263 men and 365 women aged between 17 and 88 years) were part of...

Working Width is the barrier system width + dynamic deflection of the system + vehicle roll allowance. Working Width should be provided as clearance from any non-frangible hazards behind the barrier. 

Main factors influencing road safety risk around schools.   Safety around schools has always been a major focus for road safety improvements. While these areas actually present low trauma rates, the special protection the community demands for child safety provides...

In Australia, the biggest source of trauma in animal crashes are kangaroos (trauma for both for the kangaroos and the humans). The effects of a number of measures that have been found are reproduced in the second figure below.  As you can see, in this study, the...

In Victoria, every year, around 700 crashes are reported that involve trail bike riders in forest, park or bush settings. Of these crashes, around 350 are serious injury crashes and 5 are fatal.   Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action,...

Perceptual countermeasures (sometimes call perceptive countermeasures) are any alterations to the road environment to change a road user’s perception of the environment with the aim to alter their behaviour. Common perceptual countermeasures include transverse lines...

Bridge width and road safety.   Two great studies have been produced regarding the effects of bridge width on road safety. One by Mak and one by Corben Et. Al. In summary, increasing the bridge width results in a significant reduction of crashes - 35%.   In another...

Physical treatments in the road environment are the most effective way to slow vehicles. Road humps are one of the most powerful Local Area Traffic Management (LATM) tools in the toolkit.   To operate efficiently and safely, the following design principles should be...

It is well known that a town bypass will improve road safety. Elvik Et. Al. (2001) found that the reduction in injury crashes equated to approximately 25%, but that one factor in the success of this was the treatment/management of the old highway.   At the time the...

Anti-dazzle (or anti-glare) screens are designed to minimise light from opposing headlight. A study from the UK found that these screens can reduce injury crashes by up to 11%.  When installing, make sure the design of the attachments doesn’t impact the barrier’s...

Safe System Solutions was appointed as the Independent Road Safety Experts by the NSW Government to evaluate nine existing speed camera locations.   The review was performed to understand if these cameras are still providing a safety benefit and should remain or if...

Left turning vehicles can block the sight lines for vehicles trying to exit the side road. This is called ‘Dynamic Visual Obstruction’ or ‘Masking’. The addition of a left turn lane can sometimes exacerbate this issue as the masked vehicle is given greater opportunity...

Where is yellow road line marking used in Australia?   There are a number of situations where yellow line marking is used instead of white, these are:   To denote no stopping at a locations (along kerb or edge of the road) ((Road Rule 169))  To reinforce not to stop...

Left turn slip lanes treatments continue to be a source of debate in industry. We generally like TMR’s approach in their Road Safety Policy and their Guide to Traffic Management Part 6 which sets Queensland’s process for thinking about pedestrian and cyclist safety at...

Soon you’ll need a licence to work with road safety barrier systems.  The Austroads Safety Hardware Training and Accreditation Scheme (ASHTAS) has been launched, and will ensure the people who design, install, and maintain road safety barriers on Australia’s and New...

A New Zealand study has found that owners of cars with low star ratings (1 or 2 stars) are most likely to be young, female and earning less than $50,000 per year. But, 86% of them either did not know their star safety rating or wrongly believed they had a safer...

Safe System Solutions Pty Ltd. has been assisting in the continued rollout of the Sharing Roads Safely training course. The course was developed for heavy vehicle drivers to increase safe interactions with vulnerable road users, specifically motorbike riders, cyclists...

Active transport networks are a good investment.  A Norwegian study found that the benefit of establishing a coherent network of routes for pedestrians and cyclists is at least five times the costs (Sælensminde 2002). This analysis includes investment and maintenance...

Gateway treatments can reduce casualty crashes by up to 35%.  Gateway treatments (also referred to as entry treatments or town thresholds) are used to delineate the transitions from higher speed to lower speed environments. This is achieved through the use of speed...

Truck rollovers occur with all types of trucks but in Australia are more common with trucks carrying timber, livestock, and bulk liquids.   A study of 239 truck rollover crashes in the USA showed the following contributing factors:   almost half resulted from...