Designing safer roads to accommodate driver error

Abstract

The main aims of this study were to assess the respective roles of driver errors in serious casualty road crashes at intersections, and to identify road design features which minimise errors and their consequences. A literature search was conducted to identify the range of errors underlying key casualty intersection crashes. This literature search was supplemented by data obtained from a crash investigation database pertaining to serious casualty crashes in Western Australia. A second literature search was conducted to identify road design features which aim to reduce driver error/or the consequence of these errors at intersections. The list of design features were classified according to safe system principles and matched against the range of inadvertent and deliberate errors resulting in taxonomy for signal controlled, sign controlled and uncontrolled intersections.