EuroRAP

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European Road Assessment Association AISBL
Founder(s) AA, ADAC, ANWB
Type AISBL
Founded 2002
Location Basingstoke, England, UK
Area served Europe
Focus Road Safety Research
Method EuroRAP, European Campaign for Safe Road Design
Revenue €837,382 (2007)[1]
Employees 4 (plus 3 full time seconded) (2007) [1]
Website eurorap.org saferoaddesign.eu

European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is a non-profit road safety organisation which aims to reduce death and serious injury on Europe's roads. The programme is run by the European Road Assessment Association an international not-for profit association registered in Belgium, with its main offices are in Basingstoke and London, UK.[1]

EuroRAP is a sister programme to EuroNCAP, the European New Car Assessment Programme.

In partnership with national motoring organisations and local authorities, EuroRAP assesses roads in Europe to show how well the road would protect life in the event of an accident.

Contents

[edit] Aims

EuroRAP aims to reduce the liklihood of road accidents and make those that do occur survivable.[1] The aim of EuroRAP is to promote safe “self-explaining and forgiving” roads. Self-explaining roads show road users with a clear road layout where they should be and what they should do to keep safe. Pedestrian refuges for example show where to cross and make crossing easier, furthermore they calm down drivers' speed and restrict overtaking.

Forgiving roads are designed to protect road users in the event of a crash. For example safety fences are used to separate fast moving traffic from people and to cushion crashes when they happen.

EuroRAP subscribes to a safe system approach to road safety – 5 star drivers in 5 star cars on 5 star roads. Drivers who obey the law (wear seatbelts, obey speed limits and have not consumed alcohol), who drive 5 star EuroNCAP cars should live if they crash on a 5 star road.

With their approach, the association wants to advance road-traffic safety by improving road design.

EuroRAP aims to reduce the number of road deaths in Europe in accordance with the European Commission goal to half the number of road deaths in Europe between 2000 and 2010.

[edit] Protocols

EuroRAP uses three different protocols for showing the safety level of a road.[2]

[edit] Risk mapping

Risk maps show the risk a driver faces on a certain road derived from the accident history of the road.[3] There are different kinds of ratings:

  • Number of fatal and serious accidents per km
  • Number of fatal and serious accidents per billion vehicle km traveled

[edit] Performance tracking

The changes in numbers of accidents on a certain stretch and the changes made to that road are observed over time.[4] Together with the measures taken on the stretch of road, the most effective countermeasures to reduce road deaths can be identified.

[edit] Star Rating

The Star Rating map shows the extent to which a road protects the driver in case of an accident. As errors are human, a small mistake in driver behaviour shouldn't lead to a fatal outcome.[5] Therefore, an inspection vehicle drives along the road and notes the road safety features. Special attention is given to:

  • The design of the road side as street furniture such as unprotected posts, trees and other hard obstacles are hazards in case of a car running off the road
  • The median as head-on collisions can be prevented by a separation of the lanes with for example median barriers
  • The junction design as at-grade junction bear a higher potential for side-impact crashes than roundabouts or grade-separated junctions.

[edit] EuroRAP history

[edit] 2000–2001

  • First pilot projects (identification of available data) in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden

[edit] 2002

[edit] 2003

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

In July 2008 EuroRAP became a partner in the Campaign for Safe Road Design which is calling on the UK government to make safe road design a national transport priority.[6]

[edit] National Partners by country

As at June 2009 EuroRAP had 65 partners across 27 member countries.[7]

[edit] Campaigning for Safe Road Design

In 2008 EuroRAP formed with 12 other major UK road safety stakeholders to form the Campaign for Safe Road Design which called on the UK Government to invest in a safe road infrastructure which could cut deaths on British roads by 33%.[8]

Following the success of the UK Campaign for Safe Road Design, having influenced the UK Department for Transport to support the increase of EuroRAP risk rate mapping to the wider road network in the UK,[9] EuroRAP has organised a European Campaign for Safe Road Design along the lines of the UK campaign.

The European campaign features 28 partners across Europe and aims to influence the EC to use Safe Road Infrastructure Initiatives to cut casualties by 50,000 a year for the next decade, which is the equivalent of €50 billion over the decade or 0.5% of GDP.[10] EuroRAP is the lead partner.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "EuroRAP 2007 Financial Report". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/library/pdfs/20080929_EuroRAP%202007%20Accounts.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  2. ^ "Our Protocols". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/protocols. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  3. ^ "What is Risk Mapping?". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/riskmap. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  4. ^ "What is Tracking?". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/perf. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  5. ^ "What is Star Rating?". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/rps. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  6. ^ "SAFE ROAD DESIGN TO SAVE UK £6BN EVERY YEAR" (Word DOC). Campaign for Safe Road Design. http://www.saferoaddesign.com/media/2024/safe%20roads%20final.doc. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 
  7. ^ "Our Partners". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/partners. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  8. ^ "EuroRAP - Safe Road Design to Save UK GBP 6BN Every Year". EuroRAP. http://www.eurorap.org/news_item?search=y&ID=130. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 
  9. ^ "Government Support Strengthens". Campaign for Safe Road Design. http://www.saferoaddesign.com/news--events/campaign-progress-mar-2009.aspx. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  10. ^ "Make safe road design a european transport priority". European Campaign for Safe Road Design. http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1A4a1d5e9a2b7e7464.cde. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=EuroRAP&oldid=408561409"
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