Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt Lists Resources

Bicycle Lane on Bloor Street in Toronto
Bicycle Lane on Bloor Street in Toronto

In Canada, road safety audits generally refer to assessments conducted during the design phase of a roadway, while in-service road safety reviews generally refer to the identification of improvements for a road that is already in use. However, much of the rest of the world uses just one phrase, road safety audits, for both.

These are some key concepts to keep in mind when making recommendations to improve the safety of either an existing road or a proposed road design:

  1. Managing road safety primarily means managing conflicts. If the number of conflicts can be reduced, then safety will be improved.
  2. Traffic volume is the single biggest predictor of the number of collisions. More volume equals more collisions.
  3. Public transit is the safest travel mode. Designs which reduce the need for people to take personal vehicles and provide supportive public transit will improve safety.
  4. Speed kills. Reduce travel speed and safety will be improved.
  5. If the safety can be improved for the most vulnerable road users, or for drivers who are novices, tired, unfamiliar, or impaired, then safety will be improved for all road users.

The following road safety audit guidelines and prompt lists resources are available online and most of them are free downloads.

Canada - National

Canada - Other

USA - National

Australia

New Zealand

United Kingdom

  • Highways England Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Section GG 119, Road Safety Audit (2020)

 

If you know of another guideline that you would recommend that I include in this list, please email me at mmasliah@headlightconsulting.ca .