THEMATIC ROAD SAFETY AUDITS

Over the past decade, road authorities in Australia have recognised the potential of road safety audits as an effective means of preventing potential crashes and reducing the severity of crashes should they occur. Thematic audits are an element of road safety audits that have been introduced by the RTA to focus on a particular aspect or use of a facility (the 'theme') in the road environment. The purpose of thematic audits is to focus on specific recurrent problematic issues to make the road safer in the future. Thematic audits not only address individual areas of concern in the network, but over time knowledge gained from these audits will provide the opportunity to improve guidelines, improve training and change practices, thereby promoting continuous improvement. This paper will outline the principles of thematic audits and their applicability as a road safety tool. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E209607.