KiwiRAP

How can engineering make our roads safer?

Road crashes are almost always multi-factor events involving the driver, vehicle and/or the environment, including the road. There are many elements of the road that contribute to safety outcomes including its width, alignment, the presence and type of intersections, and roadside hazards such as trees, poles and drains.

It is recognised that whatever we do to make drivers more alert, law abiding and competent, some will still make mistakes, but should not have to suffer unnecessarily harsh crash outcomes (i.e. serious injury or death). We must work on designing and operating a road network that is more forgiving.

We can reduce both the number of crashes that happen and the severity of those that do occur, by re-designing roads to make them safer. However, risk cannot be eliminated through infrastructure improvements alone, there must be improvements to the driver, the vehicle and the road. The driver must always share responsibility for a safe road system. Engineering measures can influence the messages we receive by making a road more 'self explaining'. The messages we receive and the way we react can have a significant influence on crash occurrence and outcomes. Examples of specific engineering treatments, their potential effect on the four main crash types, and their relative costs are given in the table below.

road engineering