Potential Additional Features for Safer Roads' Design

• Collisions can be caused by late reaction of road users. Road signs warning of features such as junctions ahead, emphasising a speed limit or locations where there may be unexpected queues ahead, can make road users better aware of the road environments and have good impact on reducing the number of collisions along a route.
• Traffic signs warning of approaching sharp bends can have a significant effect in reducing loss of control and speed related collisions on bends that a driver might find difficult to negotiate as the severity cannot easily be identified. In addition, chevron signs can be used where the bend is considered serious enough when taking into account the likely speed of approaching road users and a bend warning sign alone is considered insufficient.
• Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) can be a very effective tool for highlighting speed of vehicles, permanent hazards ahead etc.
• Variable Message Signs (VMS) are predominantly used to highlight temporary or seasonal hazards on a route or to convey specific real time information to motorists regarding traffic management and warn of special events that may cause disruption to the highway network. The aim is to raise the awareness and allow road users to slow down, amend their driving style or re-route before they reach the hazard.
• Marker posts, placed in the verge, can be used to draw road users’ attention to certain features and hazards as well as improving conspicuity of the road alignment. These measures are particularly effective in dark conditions particularly in unlit areas as reflectorised strips can provide a conspicuous outline of the carriageway extents and effective guidance system through a changing or more hazardous road alignment. Marker posts may also be a cost-effective way of discouraging road users from stopping in hazardous locations or providing warning of a segregation island located between the carriageway and a lay-by.
• Where further emphasis is needed on high-speed approaches to roundabouts on dual carriageways, countdown markers may be sited 300, 200 and 100 yards respectively from the give way line. The background colour shall be green when used on a primary route, and white (with black symbols and border) on a non-primary route.

• Appropriate and safe at grade crossing facilities on the pedestrian desire lines are generally preferred by pedestrians as they provide the most direct route, however, where this is not possible footbridges / subways can be provided.

• Where there is a high proportion of night-time collisions along a route, treatment options can include upgrading or introducing street lighting.
• The traffic signals should be provided at junctions where there is conflict between traffic movements or non-motorised users and vehicles. Traffic signals are usually vehicle activated or connected to an urban traffic control system. One of the main benefits of traffic signals over roundabouts and priority junctions is that they can interrupt extremely heavy traffic flows to permit the crossing of minor movements. They are also generally preferred as a safer option for cyclists as traversing a roundabout on-carriageway can be potentially more hazardous. They can also be more advantageous to pedestrians as they provide priority over the traffic rather than pedestrians relying on gaps or weaving through the traffic.
• Cameras can be used on the network to monitor operations, and/or collect evidence of road user behaviour such as speeding. This technology can be used to calculate vehicle speeds at a specific location, and in some instances, activate a still camera to take a photograph of the offending road user and/or vehicle.
• Passively safe fixtures include measures such as signposts and lighting columns. These are designed to reduce the severity of injuries in the event of being struck. Various designs are available, some absorbing the energy of impacts through deflection, and some shearing off at the base when struck.
• Road restraint systems can help to contain and redirect an errant vehicle from coming in to contact with a hazard such as a bridge abutment, tree, lighting column, traffic sign or embankment. Road restraint systems can also provide appropriate containment from a vehicle falling from height or reaching a water hazard. Rather than being seen as a preventative measure, barrier protection is generally considered a secondary safety feature intended to minimise the severity of a collision.
• Fencing can be used in order to reduce the likelihood of numerous collision types. Firstly, where there is a risk of animals straying into the carriageway from adjacent land.

• Slip roads on the merges or diverges of dual carriageways or motorways are associated with a higher-than-average number of nose-to-tail collisions. This can be a particular issue on diverges as a result of motorists leaving a high-speed route and failing to appropriately adjust their speed. There are a number of enhancements that can be considered to improve the safety, including:

1. Signalisation of the exit and entry points of the slip road, this aims to reduce the number of collisions occurring as road users misjudge gaps and can improve better manage the flow of vehicles during peak periods.
2. Widened and or lengthened diverge, this can increase the capacity of the slip road and reduce queuing back onto the motorway during peak periods.
3. Widening and or lengthening the merge, this gives motorists a greater amount of time to adjust their speed as they join the main carriageway.
4. Landscaping improvements, this can improve visibility for road users already on the trunk road as well as on the slip.
5. Resurfacing/ high friction surfacing on the diverge, this reduces the likelihood of skidding for road users who maybe decelerating quickly.
6. Provision of additional lanes.
7. Introduction of lane destination markings and improved road signing.

Where there is already a roundabout, there are a number of options that could improve the safety of the junction. Types of measures include:

1. Altering entry path radius to further reduce speeds on the approach to the roundabout.
2. Vegetation clearance and street furniture de-cluttering to remove obstructions.
3. Installation of high friction surfacing on the entry path.
4. Introducing or improving lighting on the approach and within the roundabout.
5. Clearer signing and road markings.
6. Reduction in speed limit on the approaches.
7. Yellow bar markings.
8. Providing off-road cycle facilities.

• At locations where there is limited or insufficient forward visibility in relation to the speed of vehicles using the road, there is a greater risk of road users failing to react in time to a hazard. This can result in an increase in the number and severity of collisions. Vegetation clearance can be one way of resolving this. Vegetation clearance may be conducted under routine maintenance or through a bespoke scheme designed to permanently alter the landscape to ensure a potential hazard, road layout or sign is not obscured.
• Road widening and reallocation of road space can play a key role in reducing the number of collisions along a route, as it provides more room for vehicles or safe overtaking opportunities. Moreover, if wider lanes are provided on two lane single carriageway, they can ensure unhindered traffic flow during the maintenance (e.g., resurfacing etc.).  
• Where a route has had a number of collisions relating to a particular turning manoeuvre, physically preventing this manoeuvre should be considered; this could include treatments such as closing a gap in the central reserve. Where physical treatments cannot be employed, the issue could be treated by banning the manoeuvre by implementing a Traffic Regulation Order. Road users shall be informed through road signage that they are prohibited from making the turn.
• In some circumstances, narrowing the width of the carriageway lanes can also provide a number of road safety improvements. Firstly, it can act to slow the speed of vehicles which can reduce the number of loss-of-control collisions and reduce the severity of injuries sustained. For routes with a higher-than-expected rate of pedestrian collisions, lane narrowing can also result in additional space for footways, as well as shorter pedestrian crossing distances. Lane narrowing can be achieved by either physically altering the layout of the carriageway or through the use of road markings. Physically reducing the width of the carriageway is more costly, however there is a greater chance that this will change road user behaviour. Reducing the carriageway lane widths through road markings may be cheaper but may be considered ‘artificial’ by some road users and may have limited speed reduction benefit.
• Lower speed limits can be applied as a road safety treatment typically in conjunction with other traffic calming measures, either throughout the full length or on specific sections of a route.
• Dependent upon the degree of the road safety problem, there are a number of remedial and preventative measures available for bends, some of which are suggested below:

1. Make the bend more visible to road users on the approach by cutting back/ removing vegetation and relocating signs and street furniture.
2. Provide advance warning and / or chevron signs as per Measure A2 of this guide to advise road users of the presence of the bend.
3. Review and improve existing signing (e.g., chevrons, speed limit signs).
4. Install edge of carriageway road markings and passive road studs. This measure could also be extended along straighter sections between a series of bends in order to provide a consistent treatment. For bends where poor lane positioning is a problem central hatching may also help if the carriageway width permits.
5. Adoption of the ‘where you look is where you go’ concept to provide a consistent line of marker posts on the outside of the bend to draw the road users’ eye to the vanishing point to encourage safer negotiation of the bend.
6. Reduce the mandatory speed limit or introduce an advisory speed limit along a route to reduce collisions at a number of bends.
7. Installation of Vehicle Activated Signs.
8. Installation of active road studs to increase forward guidance through a sinuous alignment.
9. Improve the superelevation and/ or the alignment of the bends.
10. Introduce high friction surfacing on the approach and through bends along a route.
11. Improve the alignment of the bend. 

Safety of end user is of prime importance of any project. Thinking about additional safety features as much as possible and incorporating them in the design can help safe the injuries and even deaths.