Road Safety Fundamentals
OVERVIEW
Traffic crashes have a tremendous cost in terms of lives lost, injuries, and monetary losses. The majority of fatal and serious injury crashes occur on local roads. Addressing road safety on local roads is a particular challenge because conditions and hazards vary and funds are limited. This workshop reviews some of the more common road safety problems and offers a practical systematic approach to solving them. Course topics include the basics of road safety (including driver and vehicle issues), a procedure for identifying and solving traffic safety problems, the role of roadway design in reducing crashes (including curves and surface conditions), improving roadside safety and intersections.
OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course, attendees should be able to:
Understand the critical relationships between roadway, roadside, road user behavior, and safety
Diagnose a safety problem, when given relevant information, and select appropriate countermeasures to address the problem
Explain the proper uses of common signs, markings, and roadside barriers
Compare and contrast the different types of sight distances and their role in roadway safety
AUDIENCE
This class should be of interest to road supervisors, maintenance level personnel in rural areas and small urban communities, and others who have responsibility for operation and management of local roads.