Visible improvements in road safety

A differentiated and safe road network, maintained to high technical standards, with common regulations, signalisation and markings will contribute to the development of all European infrastructure and accelerate economic and cultural convergence between east and west.

By Wolf Zeplin

Trade relations between European partners are further improving due to convergence between European Union member states and, within a geopolitical context, Europe is being reinforced due to the accession of Eastern European countries to the EU. Consequently, transnational road freight and passenger traffic has increased significantly.

However, the absence of clearly and uniformly-defined road signalisation and traffic management regulations in the individual states has led to a situation where road users are confronted with a variety of driving conditions. Increasing volumes of traffic combined with this uncertainty has resulted in a greater safety risk.

Traffic management systems, in particular road markings, make a substantial contribution to maintaining and improving safety. But basic safety conditions can only be achieved through quality and maintenance of the existing systems and by promoting technological progress.

Traffic signs and management systems are deteriorating due to intensive use, in part through damage and by poor maintenance, problems that can often only be solved in the long-term. The poor state of this road equipment, which has clearly been responsible for accidents, is not acceptable, neither in social nor economic terms.

Government authorities in charge of public works have a legal obligation to ensure road safety at all times and without restrictions (i.e. to guarantee perfect visibility of road markings). Traffic research is increasingly addressing the effects of road damage on road safety, and road condition is increasingly becoming a significant factor in driver-vehicle-road issues. Unfortunately, official police records and traffic accident statistics limit accident analysis to human factors, therefore the picture of road accidents and how they are caused is becoming distorted.

Although human behaviour is the principal cause of road accidents, vehicle and road factors also make a major contribution. The condition of the pavement, the topography of the road and the visibility of road markings are, therefore, key elements in accidents where the road itself is the cause. Of these, road surface is the most significant, when combined with road topography and other negative road conditions such as rain, snow, slush and poor lighting.

Initial reflections

According to the Federal Office for Statistics, the German road network (excluding local roads) in 1999 was 231,100km, of which 11,200km was federal motorways, 41,500km federal highways, further 21,666 km annually in terms of the optimal renewal requirement. This results in an overall deterioration in quality and a significant proportion (40 percent of the road network) of road marking not complying with road safety standards.

The practice of allocating contracts to the lowest bidders, a lack of quality control, and reluctance to use high-quality products suggest that this situation will not improve in the short-term. Industry opinion is that two measures could improve the situation in the short-term:

Bringing forward the yearly calendar for tenders

Currently, approximately 70 percent of all tenders are made between March and mid-June with decisions taken 30 days after the initial tenders. Another 15-30 days pass before the work begins, due to ascertaining the availability of finance or carrying out preliminary work. Factors such as weather conditions, illness, shorter working days, material, etc. limit the period 86,800 km regional highways and 91,600 km local roads.
Federal road expenditure dropped by about 19.2 percent between 1991 and 1999, and from 1984 to 1994 the degree of modernity (net fixed assets in percentage of the gross fixed assets) of the roads of the west German counties dropped by 7 percent to 71 percent. In the new east German counties, the degree of modernity is about 53 percent.

The poor condition of the secondary network of local roads, which make up approximately 80 percent of the entire road network, is of particular concern to road users and businesses who depend on a functional, efficient, fluid road network with adequate safety provisions and transport. There has been a continuous increase in traffic density in Germany over the last few years and road administrations (particularly local authorities) are each year showing less compliance with their legal obligation to maintain roads. The city of Cologne, for example, has cut its road maintenance budget by 35 percent over the last few years.

Road marking related safety and compliance with technical standards are far more dependent on the m2 of markings (commissioned for an annual upgrade by the public authorities) and on an optimal time-scale for beginning maintenance work than it is on the price offered by suppliers. The German road marking industry (about 220 to 250 enterprises in total) is highly-competitive and depends on the public sector for 95 percent of its contracting. There is virtually no other customer base.

Rules were laid down by the Ministry of Transport (BMV) in 1984 (and updated in July 2002) for the marking of roads, their minimum requirements governing whether road markings are in good condition and ensure safety. Since 1994, approx. 82,000km of road markings per year in Germany are renewed through tenders, with a trend towards fewer km per year. There is, therefore, a shortfall of 68,215km in road markings renewed annually in terms of the optimal renewal requirement. Deterioration in quality during the year following renewal results in a loss of a during which road marking can be carried out to between mid-March and mid-December, leaving approximately 144 working days for the work to be carried out, usually between May and December (approximately 115 days for its completion).

Thus, if the tender stage were advanced to the period January to March, bids could be accepted earlier and 20 to 30 more working days added to the time available for carrying out the work, an improvement in efficiency of around 23 percent.

Increasing volume of tenders

An increase of about 30 percent would mean, in constant price levels, additional expenditure of about €30-35 million and would, at the same time, reduce the shortfall in marking work by approximately 24,600 km. This measure would clearly reduce the proportion of roads that don’t conform to road safety standards and enable compliance with the minimum renewal requirement of around 45 percent.

Neither of these two measures would guarantee an improvement in quality, but combined they would ensure that the volume of markings, in terms of annual minimum renewal requirement, would be achieved. Improvements in the quality or visibility of road markings (particularly night visibility on wet roads) will only be achieved through appropriate, existing high-quality products and improved quality control.

Traffic management and road safety principles

Taking the above considerations into account, the following basic principles must be applied to traffic management systems to guarantee road safety, with active participation from both the public and private sectors:

• Road safety must be a priority. This should not be compromised by cuts in road budgets.
• Since 90 percent of all transport is by road, safety is a major issue.
• Road markings are a key element in traffic management and hence in safety. Since 90 percent of all traffic information is perceived visually, special attention must be paid to the visibility of traffic signs and systems.
• Public authorities must assume responsibility for road safety. Overall budgetary considerations cannot be an argument to limit this responsibility and reduce road safety.
• Industry is a government partner in maintaining and improving road safety. Adequate financial resources and priority status are the only guarantors of quality and safety.
• Security depends on high quality requirements for development, production, implementation and maintenance of traffic guidance systems. Good day and night visibility must be permanently ensured.
• Public and private sectors should cooperate in all questions of road safety in a spirit of mutual confidence and in setting future trends together.
• Industry – especially medium-sized companies – has achieved high quality products through investment in R&D.
• In Europe, road safety will only be achieved through the most advanced traffic management technologies due to increasing volumes of traffic and changes (population ageing) in the profiles of road users.
• Public and private sectors are increasingly being called upon to respond to this challenge.
• Road quality audits by independent survey management systems have to be implemented to guarantee continuous high safety standards and to supervise the overall road safety criteria.

Considering the above points, European governments should implement a programme to harmonise the quality of road traffic and road marking management systems and to implement Europe-wide standards without delay. It should be accepted and implemented through appropriate measures taken by the European Union and national public administrations.

Since 2001, Wolf Zeplin has been Chairman of the Working Group on Road Marking for the European Road Foundation and, since 1999, Chairman of the Permanent Committee of Road Marking for the German Association for Road Marking Studies. He is a member of the Executive Committee of German Road Associations and currently Managing Director of the Joschu Group, a company whose primary focus is road marking consulting and implementation.