ACEA

Study: Road works often a danger zone

A study by EuroTest has found that many European work zones are accident black spots, with a higher than normal frequency of accidents.

EuroTest (a platform 16 automobile clubs in 15 European countries) inspected 50 road work zones in eleven European countries. The inspections identified several factors that contribute to making work zones more hazardous. These include the temporary nature and lack of information about the presence of a work zone, reduced lane widths, sudden speed reductions at short notice, the presence of men at work and traffic congestion.

Three stakeholder organisations - the European Asphalt Pavement Association (EAPA), the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the European Union Road Federation (IRF – Brussels Programme Centre) - have called for structural improvements to be made to road work zones, and for work zone safety to be given a far higher priority at European level.

They suggest a number of additional measures should be taken by transport policy-makers and public authorities. Road users must be made aware of the nature, size and length of road works to the greatest extent possible. Existing guidelines should be adapted to take account of the state of the art good practices, and authorities should be encouraged to plan road works long in advance in order to minimise inconvenience to the public and enable contractors to implement safety schemes.

• Euro Test: Road Work Zones 2007
• International Road Federation: Lives at work

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