which should be mitigated through protection
of a less rigid and ‘friendly’ device (Figure 2b).
Other hazardous environment found in the same
assessment included the presence of improper
treatment of crash barrier ends, presence of rigid
poles, and steep embankment slopes.
Making Full Use of Assessment Results
Road assessments would only be useful if the
results are shared with the relevant road authorities
and road users. Road attributes collected during
the assessment can be compared against the
design standard and safety requirements to
immediately identify deficiencies and potential
treatments. Identification of high risk roads would
alert and advise the road authorities to take
priority in improving these roads. Additionally, a
list of most improved roads – often indicated by
statistically significant reductions in the number of
fatal and severe crashes, would serve as a guide
and success story of the improvement in road
networks.
The number of lives that can be saved and the
projected economic returns of decreasing road
risks can make an appealing case when competing
for road improvement funds. As the issues are
clearly identified and proven countermeasures
recommended, it will make a strong case when
bidding for funds. With the ever growing costs
of managing road crashes and victims, road
authorities cannot take the business-as-usual
approach anymore. A proactive approach would
provide a more compelling alternative as the
reduction in the number of crashes would lead to
higher economic returns.
In addition, assessment results for drivers in
the form of maps can show how the total risk on
the road system could change as the drivers in
the same vehicle navigate from a particular road
section to another. Utilising GPS and common
navigational systems/apps, users can be informed
of the assessment results of the route that they
are taking. Provided that there are alternatives,
users may opt for a safer route. However, should
it be the only route available, specific safety
messages can be displayed to the users so that
extra caution can be taken while driving along the
route.
Next Action Plan
Judging from the high potential to make a
positive impact on road safety in the country,
the programme has been adopted as one of
the Ministry of Transport’s National Blue Ocean
Strategy (NBOS) programme. While improvement
works are being done on the above-mentioned
expressways, more assessment activities are
being planned for other high traffic volume road
networks, such as the federal and state roads all
over the country, including Sabah and Sarawak.
The same sequence of activities will be repeated
i.e. assessment, identification of ‘quick-wins’,
improvement works and re-assessment. This
cycle, if maintained over the long term, will most
likely result in a sustainable road assessment
programme where improvements of high risk
roads will see a reduction in the number of lives
taken away on the road.
In addition, the programme will now be focusing
on assessing school areas where school children
are at greater risk of getting killed or seriously
injured while using the road – whether walking,
cycling or motorcycling. Though there has long
been investment in road safety intervention via
road safety education in school areas, worldwide
research has shown that improvement to the built
environment produces a positive safety impact
in the shortest time. MIROS is currently working
together with the Ministry of Education to assess
school areas using the iRAP protocols to identify
treatment programmes with high benefit-to-cost
ratios. This, coupled with long term education of
school children, is what MIROS believes to be a
holistic approach in tackling road safety issues
among school children.
MIROS as the ASEAN Road Safety Centre
also leverages on the tonnes of information
obtained through the iRAP programme to
work on improving the assessment models.
At the initial stage, MIROS is gearing towards
establishing local models that can best reflect
the risk posed by the road infrastructural
conditions and local driving behaviour in
Malaysia using the MyRAP, or Malaysian Road
Assessment Programme. Next it will then
be used as a basis to develop models that
could accurately assess the risk on roads
in neighbouring countries. The ASEANRAP,
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