Identification of infrastructure-related risk factors, Deliverable 5.1 of the H2020 project SafetyCube

One of the main objectives of SafetyCube is to contribute towards the creation of an inventory of estimates of risk factors and effects of measures for road infrastructure.

SafetyCube Deliverable 5.1 advances the state of the art by analysing and synthesising the current knowledge on infrastructure-related risk factors that allows them to be ranked and comparatively assessed. ‘Hot topics’, i.e. topics attracting particular attention from road stakeholders as critical areas for action and / or further research, have been given particular emphasis and priority in the SafetyCube analysis.

The standard SafetyCube methodology was applied, starting with the creation of a taxonomy of 59 specific risk factors within 16 general risk categories. For each specific risk factor, a systematic and rigorous search of the literature was undertaken. This identified nearly 300 relevant recent high quality studies, which captured quantitative findings about crash risk, frequency, and severity influenced by each risk factor. Where sufficient studies could be identified, a synopsis was written summarising the impact of the risk factor on road safety. Each synopsis starts with a colour code indicating the level of risk imposed based on the strength of evidence available. The colour code is followed by a summary of the findings for the risk factor and a more extensive scientific overview describing the analyses that were carried out. In total, 38 synopses were drafted for infrastructure risk factors including 8 original meta-analyses.
The infrastructure risk factors were eventually ranked on the basis of their colour codes.

The results (studies and synopses) were also integrated in the Decision Support System (in pilot operation) and the experience from these analyses serves as a basis for the related analysis of the effectiveness of infrastructure measures, which is in progress.