Road Safety Audit

A Road Safety Audit (RSA) is a formal, independent assessment of the safety performance of a new or existing road or proposed road design.

The objective of Road Safety Audit is to identify potential road safety issues that may pose a risk to road users and where possible to suggest suitable measures to eliminate or reduce those risks.

Highly trained auditors identify potential hazards and suggest recommended remedial treatments based on experience gained from crash investigation studies, road safety engineering schemes and associated research.

Road safety audits are commonly undertaken at several formal stages of a project

  • Stage 1 – completion of preliminary design
  • Stage 2 – completion of detailed design
  • Stage 3 – completion of construction (preferably before road is opened to the public)
  • Stage 4 – monitoring (12 months post construction) and includes a review of crash data

    Audit team – works together on the audit to identify potential road safety problems and suggest suitable measures. Will be independent of the design team. Often comprises members with differing skills and abilities, a team leader and several team members (may include law enforcement officer and/or client representative).

    Note. RSA is not a technical check that the road or proposed design conforms to the necessary Standards, neither does it consider structural safety. The UK Standard (HD 19/15) recommends that design teams include staff with road safety engineering experience to ensure that safety issues are considered during the design stage.

    Did you know?

    British traffic engineers have been conducting formal Road Safety Audits in since the early 1980s.

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