Road safety contract awarded in UK

An important road safety contract has been awarded in the UK. The Road Safety Foundation won the work to review how investments are prioritised to improve safety outcomes by Highways England (HE). This deal was awarded by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Under the terms of the contract the Foundation is to review how HE ranks the location and type of scheme to deliver. This will focus on how these decisions are influenced by HE’s key performance indicators. It will also analyse how HE takes account of
November 7, 2019 Read time: 3 mins
An important road safety contract has been awarded in the UK. The Road Safety Foundation won the work to review how investments are prioritised to improve safety outcomes by Highways England (HE). This deal was awarded by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).


Under the terms of the contract the Foundation is to review how HE ranks the location and type of scheme to deliver. This will focus on how these decisions are influenced by HE’s key performance indicators. It will also analyse how HE takes account of the safety star rating of the network when making investment decisions.

The review will examine how HE considers safety outcomes in its economic appraisal of future schemes. This will evaluate the success of safety schemes, and how this subsequently informs future investment priorities. It will look at how cycling, safety and integration ring-fenced fund and safety improvements are delivered as part of major schemes.

Of key importance is that the project will assess how safety investment on smart motorways is appraised, prioritised and evaluated.

Kate Fuller, acting executive director of the Road Safety Foundation said: “This commission is an ideal opportunity to health-check the approach of Highways England to road safety in a timely way. This should help to shape and influence future programmes of interventions in order to get better value for money, save more lives and reduce injuries on our strategic road network. We are proposing an in-depth analysis, which will include detailed person to person interviews and comparisons with best practice around the world. The outcome should be of value to everyone in the industry, including local highway authorities.”

Commenting on the contract, Iain Ritchie, ORR’s roads performance analyst said: “We’re delighted to be working with the Road Safety Foundation on this project to review how Highways England prioritises its investments to improve safety. By highlighting areas of best practice, and identifying opportunities for further improvement, the project will support Highways England in achieving its long-term goal that nobody is harmed when travelling or working on the strategic road network.”
 
To deliver the four-month project, the Road Safety Foundation is working with global expert in road safety management Jeanne Breen OBE and Tony Ciaburro of Castello Consulting, a specialist in providing strategic policy advice and support on transport, infrastructure and environmental services to both the public and private sectors.

Related Content

  • Chile’s new urban highway link
    May 2, 2022
    Nestling in a valley beside the Andes mountain range, Santiago has a growing population and has suffered from increasingly heavy congestion in recent years, requiring a new urban road link for which safety has been set as a priority for drivers - *iRAP reports
    Read More
  • Mexico introduces new professional roles to address road safety
    June 24, 2013
    *Ana Maria de la Parra introduces the new external road operation supervisors and fatal accident appraisers who could make a vital contribution to improving the efficiency and safety of highways in middle-income countries like Mexico. Sometimes it is difficult to pin down the perception of a country like Mexico in the popular international mindset. Visitors travelling to Mexico City for the first time are often amazed by its size. They are also frequently taken aback by how unexpectedly advanced it is in te
    Read More
  • ARTBA calls for improved road safety
    April 17, 2019
    The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is calling for a fundamental shift in how the US approaches road safety. ARTBA is emphasising the need to design and build a transportation network that better compensates for error so that drivers, passengers, workers and other road users do not pay for behavioural mistakes with their lives. The association submitted written testimony to a House Highway & Transit Subcommittee hearing, “Every Life Counts: Improving Safety of our Nation’s R
    Read More
  • Highly relevant: Denmark’s asset management for bridges
    July 12, 2019
    A well-maintained road bridge network is vital to Denmark’s economy. David Arminas caught up with Niels Pedersen, head of bridges at the Danish Road Directorate Denmark, being a country mainly of islands, relies on its bridges and tunnels to help unify the nation culturally. It also means that they are vastly more important to the economic well-being of the nation than in most other states. The World Bank has classified Denmark as a high-income economy. In 2017 it ranked 16th globally in terms of gros
    Read More

Highlighted Content