Safer Verges and the Strategic Road Network

Transcription

1 Safer Verges and the Strategic Road Network Gavin Williams Senior Technical Advisor Vehicle Restraints

2 Outline The Journey from Highways Agency to Highway England Overview of the Highways England Health and Safety 5 Year Plan Highways England research into Safer Verges: Understanding verge-side incidents Increased use of innovative rumble strips Wooden boundary fencing Vehicle fleet developments and interaction with vehicle restraint systems

3 Highways England who are we now? April 2015: Highways Agency became Highways England (a public sector company, owned solely by Government). We are charged with operating, maintaining and improving England s motorways and major A roads. We do not manage all roads in Britain: Local roads are managed by the relevant local authority Scottish roads are managed by Transport Scotland Welsh roads are managed by the Welsh Assembly London roads are managed by Transport for London We are not an enforcement organisation.

4 Highways England who are we now? Our road network totals around 4,300 miles. While this represents only 2 per cent of all roads in England by length, these roads carry a third of all traffic by mileage and two thirds of all heavy goods traffic. We will deliver 15 billion of investment on our road network as described in the Government s Road Investment Strategy ( The RIS or RIS 1 ). This includes 11 billion of capital funding committed between 2015 and 2020 as set out in our Strategic Business Plan.

5 Highways England Accountability Two bodies hold us to account: Transport Focus champions the needs of road users The Office of Road and Rail monitors the performance of our highways.

6 Highways England Our Aims We work hard to make sure our road network is: free flowing where routine delays are infrequent and journeys are reliable safe and serviceable where no-one should be harmed when travelling or working accessible and integrated so people are free to choose their mode of transport and can move safely across and alongside our roads. Our ambition is to ensure our major roads are more dependable, durable and most importantly are safe.

7 Health and Safety 5 Year Plan First launched in 2015, updated in May The main delivery tool for improving health and safety across the company.

8 Health and Safety 5 Year Plan

9 Health and Safety 5 Year Plan Accompanied by a Health and Safety Action Plan. All 122 actions remain assigned to members of the Executive Safety Committee as action owners who are ultimately accountable for the delivery of actions within the plan. Since its launch in October 2015, 87 of the 122 actions have been delivered (as at end March 2017).

10 Health and Safety Action Plan

11 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study Safer Verges Scoping Study Project August March 2016 Undertaken by TRL Objective: To obtain a better understanding of the roadside as a whole, with regard to the level of safety provided and those measures which could be installed to improve the current level of safety.

12 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study The Output: The Safer Verges Matrix a modified Haddon Matrix. Haddon Matrix Pre-crash Crash Post-crash Safer Verges Matrix likelihood of a vehicle running off the road likelihood of an errant vehicle reaching a hazard consequences of a vehicle reaching a hazard

13 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study Environmental factors Human factors Vehicle factors

14 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study

15 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study Mitigation Contributory Recommendations Measures Factors

16 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study

17 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study Is the Contributory Factor known to be a problem? What is the scale of the problem? Are there any mitigation measures currently used? Do the mitigation measures work? Are there any mitigation measures used elsewhere? Do the mitigation measures work?

18 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study Supporting data. Incident data. Design guides. Research Reports. National and International standards. Local, National and International expertise. Current awareness workshops. Discussions with manufacturers and promotors.

19 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study The report generated 84 actions for further research/investigation. Prioritised given knowledge of the issues and the effectiveness of current mitigation measures. 3 further projects initially taken up higher priority issues where: We think may be a problem We think there is a solution There is evidence to support the implementation of the solution. Further work will be undertaken on the other 81 actions (which may involve increasing awareness with others).

20 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study STATS19 data SVROR , UK Motorways Ranking by Number of Accidents Number of Accidents Object Hit off Carriageway Accident Severity (%of KSI) Central Crash Barrier Nearside or Offside Barrier None Tree Other Permanent Object Ditch Road Sing / Signal Lamp Post Wall or Fence Electricity Pole Submerged in Water 0.0

21 Research Safer Verges Scoping Study STATS19 data SVROR , S/C A Roads Ranking by Number of Accidents Number of Accidents Object Hit off Carriageway Accident Severity (%of KSI) Other Permanent Object Tree None Ditch Road Sign / Signal Lamp Post Wall or Fence Electricity Pole Nearside or Offside Barrier Bus Stop Submerged in Water 41.2

22 Research Rumble Strips Use of Rumble Strips on Highways England Road Network September On going Undertaken by TRL Objective: To examine how greater application of rumble strips as a road side and centreline treatment on Highways England single carriageway roads may affect the safety of road users.

23 Research Rumble Strips Collision rate by Highways England road type and severity ( )

24 Research Rumble Strips irap: Presence of shoulder rumble strip: 100% motorways 91% dual carriageways 2% single carriageways Risk Factor: 1.25 irap: Presence of centreline rumble strip: 0% motorways 0% dual carriageways 0% single carriageways Risk Factor: 1.2 Only benefits head-on risk

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26 Research Rumble Strips

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29 Research Rumble Strips

30 Research Rumble Strips NCHRP 641 reports the effect of installing median rumble strips on single carriageway roads in the US: a reduction of 9% in total accident frequency a reduction of 12% in injury accident frequency. For head-on and opposite direction sideswipe accidents, they found: a reduction of 30% in total incident frequency a reduction of 44% in injury incident frequency. Similar reductions are reported by other research.

31 Research Rumble Strips There is very little research on raised rib rumble strips in the verge. In Australia, Hatfield et al found that there was a 44% reduction in run-off-the-road accidents for cars. NCHRP 641 estimated the effect of installing milled rumble strips in the verge of single carriageway roads in the US: A reduction of 15% in single vehicle runoff accident frequency A reduction of 29% in single vehicle runoff injury accident frequency

32 Research Rumble Strips Other factors to consider: Noise Effects on motorcyclists and cyclists Retro-reflectivity Pavement durability Driver shyness Effectiveness on those driving larger vehicles

33 Research Rumble Strips Next Steps: Further understand the effectiveness of these systems. Further work on these latter points and, if positive benefits can be found, work towards on-road trials.

34 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing The Risk to Road Users from Wooden Boundary Fencing September On going Undertaken by TRL Objective: To examine the risk to road users from wooden boundary fencing and to suggest mitigation measures, as appropriate.

35 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing As soon as the Contractor is placed in possession of any part of the Site (for highways works) [they] shall immediately erect fencing on the boundaries of the land as shown on the Drawings. Timber fencing for motorways shall be wooden post and rail fence with four rails type SPR 13/4 complying with BS 1722 : Part 7, to dimensions shown on Highway Construction Detail (HCD) Drawing Number H3.

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38 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing North Yorkshire Police report (11 cases): 7 fatalities 3 serious injuries 1 near-miss Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) investigation by Bohane (Kildare County Council): 6 fatalities

39 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing Research Undertaken by TRL Highways England Network. Data Sources: Road Accident In-Depth Studies (RAIDS) On The Spot (OTS) Highways England s Fatals Database

40 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing Research Undertaken by TRL Highways England Network Data Sources: Road Accident In-Depth Studies (RAIDS) 2 On The Spot (OTS) 14 Highways England s Fatals Database 2 18 incidents between 2002 and 2013: 5 fatal incidents 1 serious incident 12 slight incidents

41 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing TRL Analysis Highways England Network (limited data sources): 17 car and 1 motorcycle incidents In 4 of the 5 cases where the fence was the cause of the injury, the injury was fatal The fence penetrated the vehicle in 7 of the 17 car impacts In 6 of these 7 cases, a window was penetrated In 12 cases, the fence was over 10m from the edge of the carriageway In 11 cases, the fence was at the bottom of an embankment (3 fatal, 1 serious, 7 slight incidents)

42 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing STATS19 Reporting, first object hit off carriageway : 6 incidents: none 5 incidents: entered ditch 3 incidents: other permanent object 2 incidents: central crash barrier 2 incidents: wall or fence

43 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing STATS19 Reporting, first object hit off carriageway : 6 incidents: none 5 incidents: entered ditch 3 incidents: other permanent object 2 incidents: central crash barrier 2 incidents: wall or fence 72% of the incidents would not be identified Wooden boundary fence is often NOT the first object hit off carriageway

44 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing Incident review, first object hit off carriageway was a wooden boundary fence (9 incidents): 3 incidents: none 1 incidents: entered ditch 3 incidents: other permanent object 0 incidents: central crash barrier 2 incidents: wall or fence 4 cases incorrectly recorded 9 cases could not be correctly coded

45 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing Next steps Estimate the National impact Review aggressively factor for wooden boundary fencing Discuss data capture techniques Review current design Potentially investigate alternatives/impact testing.

46 Research Wooden Boundary Fencing NRA TB12 Timber Post and Tension Mesh Fencing (GE-TBU-01020) TII Publications

47 Research Future Vehicles Effects of the Change of Vehicle Fleet on VRS Performance September On going Undertaken by TRL Objective: To examine the risk to investigate the likely changes in vehicle design in the next 5, 10 and 20 years, and the changes needed to VRS design and test methods to accommodate these changes.

48 Research Future Vehicles European Standard for the testing of VRS - EN1317 Highways England requirements - TD19/06: Verge Barriers minimum N2 containment: 900kg car, 100km/h, 20 degrees 1500kg car, 110km/h, 20 degrees Median Barriers minimum H1 containment: 900kg car, 100km/h, 20 degrees 10,000kg HGV, 70km/h, 15 degrees High Risk Areas minimum H4a containment: 900kg car, 100km/h, 20 degrees 30,000kg rigid HGV, 65km/h, 20 degrees

49 Research Future Vehicles EN1317 vehicle choice restricted by: Mass Wheel track (front and rear) Wheel radius (HGV only) Wheel base (HGV only) Location of Centre of Mass (X, Y, Z) Number of axles Unmodified Make and model must represent current European traffic

50 Research Future Vehicles Current values in EN1317 first published 1998, and haven't changed since. New legislation on safety technologies. New legislation on emissions. Market demand for safer, cheaper and more efficient vehicles. Market trends and rise in popularity of certain classes of vehicles. Requirements in US standards have changed to reflect more modern vehicles.

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52 Research Future Vehicles Source: IHS Markit and DfT, 2016

53 Research Future Vehicles Source: ACEA, 2017

54 Research Future Vehicles Source: ICCT, 2016

55 Research Future Vehicles Source: ICCT, 2016

56 Research Future Vehicles Source: ICCT, 2016

57 Research Future Vehicles Source: SMMT

58 Research Future Vehicles Factors to consider in future revisions of EN1317: Vehicle Age Vehicle types and segments Vehicle mass Lightweighting and structural changes Vehicle dimensions Fuel type

59 Research Future Vehicles Next step: Present the findings to European committees responsible for the testing of VRS

60 In Summary Scoping Study: Many actions to follow up on internally and externally White Lining: Further research and trials Wooden Boundary Fencing: Further review of incident data Examination of data collection methods Development and refinement of solutions Future Vehicles: Presentation to European committees Update to standards?

61 In Summary This is just one of a wide ranging research programme being undertaken by Highways England. This research programme addresses one of 6 bulleted points on Action 77 of 122! Numerous activities across Highways England to reduce the number and severity of incidents by 40% by 2020.

62 Thank you for listening

63 Thank you for listening Gavin Williams Senior Technical Advisor Vehicle Restraints