This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2017) |
Founded | 2002 |
---|---|
Founders | ADAC, ANWB, TRL, RSF [1] |
Type | AISBL |
Focus | Road traffic safety |
Location |
|
Area served | Europe |
Method | EuroRAP, European Campaign for Safe Road Design |
Website | eurorap |
Rank by vehicle sales in 2017 [2] | Country | Estimated road traffic death rate per 100,000 population, 2018 [3] |
---|---|---|
1 | China | 18.2 |
2 | United States | 12.4 |
3 | Japan | 4.1 |
4 | India | 22.6 |
5 | Germany | 4.1 |
6 | United Kingdom | 3.1 |
7 | France | 5.5 |
8 | Brazil | 19.7 |
9 | Italy | 5.6 |
10 | Canada | 5.8 |
European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit (vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire.
In partnership with national motoring organisations and local authorities, EuroRAP assesses roads in Europe to show how well they protect life in the event of a crash. It is a sister programme to Euro NCAP, and seeks to improve road safety through road design. [1] EuroRAP currently has active programmes in 29 countries, mostly in Europe. [4]
EuroRAP is financially supported by the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, the International Road Assessment Programme, and the European Association of Motor Manufacturers. Programmes are typically self-financed by in-country automobile associations and national governments. Specific projects receive funding from the World Bank, [5] Global Road Safety Facility, and institutions such as the European Commission.
EuroRAP has received three Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards; the first in 2004 for founding the European programme, [6] the second in 2009 for founding the International Road Assessment Programme, and the third in 2014. [7]
EuroRAP aims to reduce the likelihood of traffic collisions and make those that do occur survivable. Its formal objectives are to: [8]
EuroRAP supports the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2012–2020. [9]
EuroRAP is a membership-based organisation, with members in high- and low-income countries. There are three categories of membership:
EuroRAP has developed standardised protocols for showing the safety level of a road providing a common language that everyone can speak. In low and middle income countries, the EuroRAP methodology provides a structure to measure and manage road safety risk, the basic building blocks of which are often lacking. As a result, these nations can often be faster and more innovative in applying new solutions. EuroRAP encourages countries to focus on their busiest roads where the largest crash savings can be made and therefore countries do not need to include their entire road network in RAP analysis to make a large difference.
Based on real crash and traffic flow data, colour-coded maps show a road's safety performance by measuring and mapping the rate at which road users are being killed or seriously injured. Different maps can be produced depending on the target audience. These include:
Risk is shown in colour-coded bandings from high (black), to low risk (green).
The establishment of road safety targets requires that safety performance can be monitored over time. Governments and funding agencies can also benefit from evaluating the road safety impacts of their investments. Performance tracking identifies whether fewer people are being killed or seriously injured on a road section over time and the countermeasures that have been most effective, including cost, in reducing crashes and injury severity.
Safety performance indicators also provide an effective means of monitoring performance. Measures such as helmet and seat belt wearing rates have been used effectively in assessing road safety behaviour, as have speed measurements and conflict studies, and RAP star ratings provide a set of safety performance indicators for road infrastructure.
Star ratings are used to show the likelihood of a fatal or serious crash and how well the road infrastructure would protect from death or serious injury when a crash occurs. By systematically inspecting roads, countries can develop an understanding of the level of risk built into their road networks. This provides the basis for targeting high risk sections for improvement before people are killed or seriously injured. Inspections are especially useful when crash data is unavailable or unreliable.
Inspections are undertaken using specially equipped vehicles to collect digital, panoramic images or videos of roads as they are driven. These images are then used to record (or 'code') road design attributes known to influence the likelihood of a crash and its severity. The inspections create a permanent video and database record that can be reviewed easily by local engineers and planners. The attributes recorded at 100 metre intervals include:
Roads are awarded stars for the level of safety they offer. These range from 1 (high risk) to 5 (low risk).
To enable cost-effective assessment of roads, there is a global network of RAP-accredited suppliers who are capable of competitively bidding to undertake high quality inspections and coding.
Where star ratings provide a measure of risk on a road, Safer Roads Investment Plans identify ways in which the star ratings can be improved in a cost-effective way. There is evidence that well-targeted road safety improvements save lives, at both individual locations and across networks. For example, on a section of the A4128 in the UK, speed reductions, improved signs and markings, intelligent road studs, traffic calming and upgraded pedestrian crossings helped cut the number of fatal and serious crashes from 19 in 2004–06 to two in 2007–09 – an 89% reduction. [10]
The Safer Roads Investment Plans include extensive planning and engineering information such as road attribute records, countermeasure proposals and economic assessments for 100 metre sections of road. They are supported by online software. [11]
To date, Safer Roads Investment Plans have been used to identify improvements in low- and middle-income countries that could prevent more than 50,000 deaths and serious injuries per year, saving around $1.2 billion per year in crash costs avoided. [12]
29 countries are currently involved in EuroRAP. [1] [4] Countries themselves are not members, but organisations based in those countries can be.
In this list, countries are given with the year they first became involved and the organisation that made them involved.
A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation or related systems and components.
Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport.
The European New Car Assessment Programme is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February 1997. It was originally started by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport but later backed by several European governments, as well as by the European Union (EU). Their slogan is "For Safer Cars".
The ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, is Europe's largest automobile association. The ADAC is the largest verein (club) in Germany, with around 21 million members. Its headquarters are located in Munich. Its original and most well-known service is roadside assistance.
The Royal Automobile Club of Spain, Spanish: Real Automóvil Club de España (RACE) is a motor club/car club in Spain.
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) is a car safety performance assessment programme based in Australia and founded in 1993. ANCAP specialises in the crash testing of automobiles sold in Australia and the publishing of these results for the benefit of consumers. ANCAP provides consumers with transparent advice and information on the level of occupant and pedestrian protection provided by different vehicle models in the most common types of crashes, as well as their ability—through technology—to avoid a crash.
The International Road Assessment Programme or iRAP assesses roads all over the world and aims to significantly reduce road casualties by improving the safety of road infrastructure.
The Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation is an automobile club and the governing body of motorsports in Poland. It is based in Warsaw.
An automobile safety rating is a grade given by a testing organisation to a motor vehicle indicating the safety of occupants in the event of a motor vehicle crash, like with the New Car Assessment Program.
A collision avoidance system (CAS), also known as a pre-crash system, forward collision warning system (FCW), or collision mitigation system, is an advanced driver-assistance system designed to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. In its basic form, a forward collision warning system monitors a vehicle's speed, the speed of the vehicle in front of it, and the distance between the vehicles, so that it can provide a warning to the driver if the vehicles get too close, potentially helping to avoid a crash. Various technologies and sensors that are used include radar (all-weather) and sometimes laser (LIDAR) and cameras to detect an imminent crash. GPS sensors can detect fixed dangers such as approaching stop signs through a location database. Pedestrian detection can also be a feature of these types of systems.
Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a roadway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. It started in Sweden and was approved by their parliament in October 1997. A core principle of the vision is that "Life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within the society" rather than the more conventional comparison between costs and benefits, where a monetary value is placed on life and health, and then that value is used to decide how much money to spend on a road network towards the benefit of decreasing risk.
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is statistically the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The commonly used term car accident is increasingly falling out of favor with many government departments and organizations, with the Associated Press style guide recommending caution before using the term and the National Union of Journalists advising against it in their Road Collision Reporting Guidelines. Some collisions are intentional vehicle-ramming attacks, staged crashes, vehicular homicide or vehicular suicide.
The Road Safety Foundation is a United Kingdom charity which carries out and procures research into safe road design and road safety. The Foundation is responsible for the European Road Assessment Program (EuroRAP) in the UK and Ireland.
Worker road safety refers to the economic, societal, and legal ramifications of protecting workers from automobile-related injury, disability, and death. Road traffic crashes are a leading cause of occupational fatalities throughout the world, especially in developing countries. In addition to the suffering of the workers and their families, businesses and society also bear direct and indirect costs. These include increased insurance premiums, the threat of litigation, loss of an employee, and destruction of property.
The European Campaign for Safe Road Design aims to influence the European Union to make safe road design a European transport priority and save unnecessary deaths on Europe's roads. The campaign is a partnership between 28 road safety stakeholders from across Europe, claiming that a formal safe road infrastructure initiative could reduce the number of killed and seriously injured by 50,000 per year in less than a decade, saving 0.5% of GDP - €50 billion, saving at least 300 deaths and serious injuries per day. The European campaign builds on the UK Campaign for Safe Road Design which has worked to influence the UK government since 2008.
Touring Club Belgium (TCB) is a motoring organisation providing roadside assistance, insurance, medical insurance and legal support throughout Belgium. TCB is a member of the FIA and ARCEurope.
A New Car Assessment Program is a government car safety program tasked with evaluating new automobile designs for performance against various safety threats.
BIHAMK or Bosanskohercegovački auto-moto klub, as one of the three main Bosnian motoring clubs, is a local equivalent to the American AAA or British AA. BIHAMK continues the tradition of Bosnia-car racing-motorcycle association founded 7 February 1946 and the Automobile Association of BiH founded in 1947.
Road safety in Europe encompasses transportation safety among road users in Europe, including automobile accidents, pedestrian or cycling accidents, motor-coach accidents, and other incidents occurring within the European Union or within the European region of the World Health Organization. Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured.