The aim of this article is to explain the road safety audit methodology that was developed in Manizales by the National University of Colombia – Manizales. The study was carried out with resources from the Road Safety National Agency and the interest of the town hall to reduce the city’s accident rates.
The road network audit consisted in twenty-eight (28) points that were evaluated considering various parameters, such as land use, user behaviour (vehicle and pedestrian), lighting, topography, drainage and other physical aspects. This information was gathered in situ since no other way could provide the details needed for the analysis. After all the pertinent data was collected, digitized and organized, the risk analysis could begin as the ratings depended on the overall performance of the network and an entire overview is needed to weight the parameters. Then, these ratings are weighted to determine the prioritization order and thus conclude on the intervention importance of one point over another. The proposed methodology was created with the intention of being independent from previous accident data as it is scarce or absent in recently opened or planned roads and junctions. Lastly, we present an example of the results that are to be expected from the application of this methodological analysis.
Although the methodology has limitations of subjective considerations, it can be a helpful tool for town administrations as it rates and prioritizes the points to have a technically supported investments plan.