Kiwirap star Ratings Q&As
What safety interventions could make roads safer?
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- How important are the roads in road safety
- Should I take more risks on a 4 or 5-star road
- Aren’t most crashes caused by bad drivers
- Why not just reduce the speed limit to improve safety
What safety interventions could make roads safer?The NZTA is always looking at improving the safety of state highways and is committed to implementing innovative and comprehensive safety solutions. Examples of safety measures include: improved markings, signage and lighting greater use of rumble strips roadside hazard removal or protection greater median space or median barriers on high volume roads improved overtaking opportunities intersection improvements where possible. Does the star rating take into account the road's speed limit and volume of traffic? The KiwiRAP model presently only rates roads and the roadside environment. The speed limit is used in conjunction with curvature and crossfall data to determine speed environment. Speed environment is then used to help determine how safe the horizontal alignment of a road is i.e. a well designed windy section of road (with a low speed environment) may be safer than a straight section of road followed by a sharp (unexpected) curve. Traffic volume is used to reflect the fact that on undivided roads the proportion of head-on crashes increases with increasing traffic volume, and that intersections with high volume side roads have a greater risk associated with them than those with low volume side roads. How important are the roads in road safety?Safer Journeys: New Zealand’s road safety strategy 2010-2020 introduces a Safe System approach to New Zealand. The Safe System differs from traditional approaches to road safety and seeks to improve safety across the road system. Rather than just blaming the road user for causing a crash, it acknowledges that even responsible people sometimes make mistakes in their use of the roads. To do this, the Safe System has the objectives to: make the road transport system more accommodating and protecting of human error manage the forces that injure people in a crash to a level the human body can tolerate without serious injury minimise the level of unsafe road user behaviour. To get to a Safe System we need to achieve: safe roads and roadsides – that are predictable and forgiving of mistakes. Their design should encourage appropriate road user behaviour and safe speeds safe speeds – that suit the function and level of safety of the road. Road users understand and comply with speed limits and drive to the conditions safe vehicles – that help prevent crashes and protect road users from crash forces that cause death or serious injury safe road use – ensuring road users are skilled and competent, alert and unimpaired. That people comply with road rules, choose safer vehicles, take steps to improve safety, and demand safety improvements. How does KiwiRAP align with Safer Journeys? The KiwiRAP programme is very well aligned with Safer Journeys through: the high priority area of Safer Roads & Roadsides the key initiative of focusing efforts on high-risk rural routes the focus on Safer Road Use through informing motorists of relative risks. KiwiRAP is a good example of the Safe System approach in action. Although Star Ratings data is about analysing and improving the roads, the Star Ratings will also empower road users to understand the risk on particular roads and what elements make up those risks. They can then adjust their driving behaviour for the conditions they see. Should I take more risks on a 4 or 5-star road?No. While some safety features of a road are more likely reduce your risk of a crash, and increase your chances of surviving if a crash does occur, they don’t make you indestructible. Safety features won’t necessarily save someone from death or serious injury, particularly if they’re speeding or not wearing a safety belt. Aren’t most crashes caused by bad drivers?Many crashes happen when everyday drivers make simple mistakes. Sober and responsible drivers obeying the speed limit and wearing seat belts frequently die on New Zealand roads. Safer roads minimise the chances of a crash, or if a crash does occur, the severity of the crash. Safer roads act as a safety net for when we make a mistake – which most drivers will do at some point. However, this does not reduce the need for continuing education programs to minimise driver mistakes and improve driver safety. A Safe System approach doesn’t take the road user out of the picture or ignore their responsibilities. Instead of simply apportioning the majority of blame on the road user, the Safe System approach recognises the need for shared responsibility between transport system designers (i.e. road and vehicle engineers) and road users. Why not just reduce the speed limit to improve safety?Travel speed influences the severity of a crash and the risk of a crash occurring. However, speed limits are just one part of the road safety equation – the Safe System. There are many improvements that can be made to roads to make them safe, such as installing safety fences around roadside hazards. Speed and safety need not be mutually exclusive. Some of Europe’s fastest roads are their safest. However, there may be some instances where lowering the speed limit on a high risk, low star rated road may be an appropriate method of managing road safety outcomes, at least until the improvements are made. How do New Zealand Star Ratings compare to other countries, such as Australia? There are a number of different Road Assessment Project (RAP) models in existence. The results are not directly comparable from country to country due to the use of different models built to accommodate the varying nature of roading networks.
What is the most dangerous road in New Zealand? The Star Ratings can’t identify the most dangerous road in the country as by itself the Star Rating is only part of the picture. Star Ratings rate the risk levels on a road based on its engineering features. When looking at how dangerous a road is other factors need to be taken into account such as traffic mix, weather conditions, speed, and volume of traffic. For example, sections of the SH60 around Takaka rate only 1 star – which is no surprise given that it traverses some of our most challenging terrain, but it carries relatively few vehicles (which mean spending a lot of money on it doesn’t provide a big return to the community). Similarly, sections of SH45 around the Taranaki coast also rate as a 1-star. Conversely, sections of the SH2 in the northern Waikato rate as 2 and 3 stars, but it crosses fairly flat and simple terrain and is on one of our busiest rural highways (which means spending even a modest amount of money can return large benefits to the community). Many rural state highways lie between these two examples. How was the KiwiRAP model developed? Initially the KiwiRAP model was based on the international model most appropriate for New Zealand, the Australian version (AusRAP). Changes were then made to that model to better suit New Zealand roads, research and risk factors. For example, our head-on risk is much higher than Australia as we have more undivided roads with higher volumes of traffic. In Australia head-on collisions account for 15 percent in their RAP model, yet in New Zealand we use a variable model from 15 to 45 percent (on the busiest roads) – we had to change our model to suit our terrain and risk levels. Why aren’t cyclists or motorcyclists included in assessing the Star Ratings? The KiwiRAP model is presently aimed at providing Star Ratings for motorized vehicle occupants as these account for the greatest proportion of road users and crashes on the rural state highway network, where KiwiRAP is initially targeted. Road features such as shoulder width are rated, and hence roads with higher Star Ratings will typically have wider shoulders which may be beneficial for cyclists and pedestrians travelling along the road, however it is not really possible to have an all encompassing single Star Rating for all road users. There are some international programmes such as iRAP that have been developed for countries that have a far greater mix of road users and include separate Star Ratings for various road user groups. We are monitoring the development of these models for possible future applications such as on urban arterials. What are KiwiRAP’s three protocols and how do they differ? KiwiRAP has developed three standard protocols—risk mapping, their ongoing updates, and Star Rating of roads through the Road Protection Score (RPS). The KiwiRAP risk maps are based on actual crash and traffic flow data. They are colour coded maps which illustrate where and how frequently actual crashes occur on a road. The first KiwiRAP risk maps were only published in January 2008 and have not yet been updated. They can be viewed at www.kiwirap.co.nz. The Star Ratings are based on a visual inspection of the actual road features which are known to influence crash risk and crash severity. The Star Ratings do not take crash data into account. Together, the three KiwiRAP protocols tell an important story about road safety. When will the 3rd protocol be undertaken to measure any safety improvements? The KiwiRAP risk maps are due to be updated in 2011. The Road Protection Scores (and Star Ratings) are likely to be redone on an as required basis. For example some sections where highways have been known to have been upgraded may be re-rated in 2–3 years, whilst other sections may not be re-rated for 5 –10 years. For more information, visit the KiwiRAP website www.kiwirap.org.nz. Appendix 1 Here follows some examples of the types of physical attributes of the road and roadsides that can influence crash rates and the severity for head-on, run-off road and intersection type crashes. 
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