A comparative review of road safety audit guidelines of selected countries

Abstract

Road safety is a global crisis and one of the proactive preventive measures for accidents is the Road Safety Audit (RSA). The benefits of RSA are numerous. RSAs have been practiced in many countries following the guidelines of their own. The objective of this study was to compare the contents of the guidelines of selected seven (07) countries. The documents were reviewed and compared in terms of seven (07) critical parameters. The definition of the term “RSA” varied among guidelines. The RSA process was required for different stages of a project in different countries. The attached check lists or forms also varied in terms of contents and in terms of the coverage. The qualifications of auditors or team requirements were unequally emphasized in the documents. The legal liability aspects were not given any emphasis in three of the seven guideline documents. Two country documents did not contain any sample RSA report or any sample case study. Some country documents have good emphasis on some parameters while those lack in other aspects. No RSA guideline document can be called as the best one, as those were prepared considering the local conditions and requirements. Recommendations were made to improve the guideline documents