International Seminar "Building Road Safety Capacity"
02-04 October, Warsaw (Poland)
This International Congress, organised by the Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, was held in Warsaw, Poland; this year it teamed up with World Road Association Technical Committee 3.2 "Design and Operation of Safer Road Structure" and the World Bank for a truly international event.
In his welcoming speech, Mr S?awomir Nowak, the then Poland's Minister in charge of Transport, pointed out that after significant progress in Road Safety, Poland intends to remain active in following years through its National Road Safety Programme: The 4 Es Strategy: Engineering, Emergency, Enforcement and Education.
The introductory sessions gave an overview of National Road Safety Policies and the Safe systems approach. 250 participants from all five continents could then choose from 9 parallel sessions and 3 workshops, on subjects ranging from Roads Safety Audits, through ITS- and engineering solutions, to vulnerable users and the use of campaigns in road safety work.
One of the workshops, led by TC 3.2.3 Work Group Leader Brendan Marsh, focused on engineering solutions addressing Driver Distraction and Fatigue with some exciting new developments (Refer to the WG3 article published in Routes/Roads 360 in online version). The participants upheld TC 3.2.3's assumption that most of our driving is done subconsciously and that some different cues are required to stimulate the subconscious.
At the closing plenary, the Congress identified that the essential ingredients for road safety included political will and financing organisations, linking authentic road safety to funding. Furthermore, all jurisdictions and organisations can improve by adopting the Safe Systems approach, which requires:
- Shared responsibility for road safety to be established across its pillars;
- Acceptance that road users are fallible, so that road safety becomes much less dependent on good road user behaviour;
- System design to contain potential crash energies to beneath the human tolerances for serious injury.
Many of our existing road regulations, standards and guidelines were developed during earlier road safety philosophies, leaving room for significant improvement of our practices, which, as repeatedly demonstrated at the Congress, often provide other transport benefits and lower project costs. As a result, more forums should be organised to exchange ideas and collaboratively embed road safety across the system.
The Congress successfully built road safety capacity across the diverse range of participants, and concluded that we all share the responsibility to innovate in order to achieve progress towards a zero road crash fatalities vision.
Proceedings of International Seminar
International Seminar Programme - 02-04 October 2013 | ||
First day of the Congress (02 October) | ||
Hour |
Activity and Presenter | |
12.00-14.00 |
Lunch | |
|
ROOM A | |
14.00-14.30 |
Opening speeches | |
14.30-16.00 |
Plenary session: National road safety policies - cases studies National Road Safety Programe 2013-2020 (Polish) UN Global of Action for road safety Comparison of national road safety policies and plans | |
16.00-16.30 |
Coffee break | |
16.30-18.00 |
Plenary session: Safe System Approach Safe Systems Theory and Practical Implementation Implementing Safe Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries Systemic management of road infrastructure safety (Polish) EU Regulatory Perspective and Funding Instruments for Smart/Connected Mobility | |
18.00-19.00 |
Dinner - Galeria Porczy?skich | |
19.00-21.00 |
Sightseeing of Warsaw -> Transfer to the hotel | |
Second day of the Congress (03 October) | ||
Hour |
Activity and Presenter | |
9.00-9.15 |
ROOM A Official Opening of the 2nd day of the Congress: Speech of Mr S?awomir Nowak, Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy | |
|
ROOM A |
ROOM B |
9.15-10.30 |
Session I: Road Safety Audit as a tool of safety of road traffic Methods of management of road infrastructure safety based on the risk (Polish) Road Safety Audit Guideline Experiences in introducing road safety audit in Poland (Polish) The first road safety audit training courses in Hungary |
Session II: ITS as effective tool in improving road traffic safety Road traffic safety and ITS - review of EU projects (Polish) ITS measures in the management of crisis events on the example of the City of Toronto Use of ITS in road management on road network in England Actuarial research on the effectiveness of Collision Avoidance Systems FCW & LDW |
10.30-11.00 |
Coffee break | |
11.00-12.30 |
Session III: Effective management of roads and traffic for the sake of road traffic safety Polish experiences in conducting road inspections including identification of threats on the road (Polish) Training and certification of Road Safety Experts for the application of Road Safety Audit and Road Safety Inspection procedures to selected secondary roads Road Safety Audit in Slovenia Management of dangerous road sections in Estonia |
Session IV: Signs and variable message signs as a tool to improve road safety VMS EasyWay ESG4 (VMS Harmonisation) Influence of communication systems on driver's behaviour in shaping messages on variable message signs (polonais) Assessment of message legibility on VMS tables (polonais) |
12.30-14.00 |
Lunch | |
14.00-15.30 |
Session VI: Effective management of roads and traffic for the sake of road traffic safety ASAP (Appropriate Speed Save All People) project dealing with Speed management in Work Zones Rural speed management (effective treatments for managing speeds on rural roads) and Urban arterial speed management Methodology of defining section of roads to cover with automatic surveillance over dangerous speed (Polish) |
Session V: Shaping of safe behaviours of the participants of road traffic through infrastructural means, control and education Human factors/spatial perception of the environment The big challenge to improve safety for vulnerable road users Roads that'talk' to the users Roads of Trust - the programme of protection of people's life and health on national roads (Polish) |
ROOM C - Workshop: Driver distraction and fatigue with a focus on road engineering solutions - contribute to the developing Brendan Marsh | ||
15.30-16.00 |
Coffee Break | |
16.00-17.30 |
Session VII: Engineering solutions and their influence on effectiveness and safety of road traffic Treatment of linear settlements along highways Current problems and tendencies in roundabouts design Engineering solutions and their influence on effectiveness - Lithuanian experience |
Session VIII: Vulnerable road users Motorcycle Safety Safe to School - Safe to Home Vulnerable Road Users in UK Leading road users towards (self ) responsibility |
ROOM C - Workshop: Accident investigation - contribute to the developing update of the PIARC Daniel Aubin, DESSAU inc. Canada | ||
19.30 |
Gala Dinner - Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Marysie?ka Restaurant | |
Third day of the Congress (04 October) | ||
Hour |
Activity and Presenter | |
ROOM A |
ROOM B | |
09.00-10.30 |
Session IX: Engineering solutions and their influence on effectiveness and safety of road traffic Influence of chosen factors on the safety of road traffic on the section of roads Influence of geometric solutions and cross-section on safety Factors influencing traffic safety on intersections and national road junctions in Poland (Polish) |
Session X: Road Safety Manual PIARC Blair Turner and Mike Griffith, PIARC |
10.30-11.00 |
Coffee Break | |
11.00-12.30 |
Plenary closing session - Panel discussion: Actions taken and building road safety capacity - Jean-François Corté, Secretary General, PIARC | |
12.30-14.00 |
Lunch | |