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Active Advanced Warning Signs (AAWS) have been shown to reduce risk at railway level crossings by effectively alerting road users to the presence of a train in advance of the crossing. They are particularly useful and effective in adverse weather conditions, where...

There are a variety of High Profile Barrier Kerbs available. Midwest profile has been tested under NCHRP 350 Test Level 2, vehicle speed 70km/h, impact angle 25 degrees and vehicle mass 2000kg.  VicRoads RDN03-01 states it should only be considered where operating...

“While studies show the education on road safety in schools does improve knowledge [1], there is no evidence that this knowledge changes the safety level of on-road behaviour [2]. There even is a risk that increased knowledge increases confidence and risk-taking. Even...

Nearly 60 per cent of serious injury crashes in Victoria involved driver(s) that were defined as ‘Safe Driver(s)’ in the ECIS. They were:   Wearing a seat belt   Within the speed limit  Not handling a mobile phone.   Within the BAC for their licence class  Not using...

Emergency service personnel are passionate about the life saving properties of road safety barriers. Roadside and median barriers prevent serious injuries and deaths on the roads.   We want to thank all the SES volunteers out there working tirelessly to protect our...

Roundabouts are the best at-grade intersection form for rural areas when we look at protecting the travelling public.   The reasons for the super safety levels at roundabouts in rural areas are:  Fewer conflict points in comparison to conventional intersections. The...

This recent viral video serves as a stark reminder of the heightened risks motorcyclists face on the road, where even minor errors can have potentially devastating consequences.  Due to their lack of protective enclosure, motorcyclists are classified as vulnerable...

Wide centerline treatments can reduce cross centerline fatal and serious injury crashes by up to 30%. Often lanes can be narrowed to accommodate the treatment and the wide centerline is best complemented with audio tactile edge line and centerline.   While a central...

Two transport modes that continue to grow in volume in urban areas are bikes and trucks. While this presents exciting opportunities for sustainable mobility and economic growth, it also raises concerns about safety. A 2018 study by Pokorny et al., titled: Conflicts...

A road maintenance envelope should be maintained to ensure that larger vehicles can safely travel along a route without striking vegetation. The envelope extends over the roadway and shoulder and is expressed as the vertical clearance. While the dimensions may vary...

The main difficulty with fear appeals are that they are least effective among those people who most need to change their behaviour. Less risky people who are already motivated to behave safely are more likely to accept the fear appeal message. In contrast, for the...

Even the best drivers make mistakes. But are all mistakes created equal? The Safe System acknowledges the human reality that we’re all flawed, but we can unpack aberrations on the road into the categories: errors and violations. Back in the 90s, Reason and colleagues...

In our live online Road Safety Audit course, participants are required to undertake short research assignment into a road safety topic. This helps them explore and understand their assigned topic, and they get to view all the other participants’ assignments across...

So, you've completed our Road Safety Audit or Safe System Assessment course and you're ready to do your first audit/assessment. But how do you make sure you're safe out there? It’s far more than just a hi-vis vest. First – you must get in the practice of doing a job...

“Retroreflectivity”, try saying that 3 times!  So, what is it and why is it important?  Retroreflectivity is what occurs when a surface reflects light back to its source.  As engineers, we like to harness this phenomenon in traffic signs to improve their visibility on...

Have you ever heard of a self-explaining road?  Why don’t we explain what a self-explaining road is:  Theeuwes and Godthelp published a paper in 1995 called “Self-explaining roads” with the overall notion that roads should be easily understood by the road user, in...

Roundabouts reduce casualty crashes by around 75%, but conventional traffic signals only reduce casualty crashes by around 45%. But why not have both?   It is quite common for roundabouts to be replaced with traffic signals when the opposing movements become too...

Overtaking lanes (also called passing lanes) are often a go-to road safety solution for areas with high head-on crash rates. But will the addition of an overtaking lane actually improve safety?  Firstly, we need to understand that only a very small fraction of head-on...

A trap lane is a configuration where a travel lane becomes an exclusive left or right turn lane, thereby trapping the driver/rider that wishes to continue straight. Trap lanes increase the risk or side swipe and rear end crashes as drivers/riders try to escape the...

You're likely familiar with the concept of a Road Safety Audit, but do you know about Motorcycle Road Safety Audits? Elevating road safety for motorcyclists goes beyond a routine visual inspection. The unique perspective gained from physically riding a motorcycle...