Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.
A Chinese woman won praise from her compatriots for guarding manholes without covers during recent flooding in the city of Jinjiang. The covers of the manholes had been moved out of place by the action of the flood waters, leaving a serious hazard. However despite the flood, the local woman stayed on hand to warn pedestrians, cyclists, motor cyclists and car drivers that the covers were missing. She placed umbrellas in some of the gaps as well as a warning notice in another.
Barrier selection criteria should pay close attention to risks for stretches of road as well as regulations. Roadways need to have barriers to provide passive protection for users and to reduce the risk of injury or death in the event of a vehicle leaving the roadway. A wide array of regulations and legislation covers the design and installation of barriers on Europe’s roads. However, there are still a number of loopholes for certain types of roadside protection and further agreement is required to close th
Blair Turner examines infrastructure options for achieving Safe System outcomes and their implementation in Australia Like a number of other developed countries around the world, Australia has recently adopted a 'Safe System' approach to addressing road safety. This approach, which stems from Sweden's Vision Zero and Sustainable Safety in the Netherlands, recognises that humans as road users are fallible and will make mistakes.
There are also limits to the kinetic energy exchange that humans can tolerate (
