Roads

Investment in infrastructure should be geared towards long-term transformation of the road system taking into account future transport needs and the requirements of future vehicles.

A safe road transport system starts with improved planning. Safer road design principles aim to minimise conflict points, remove and simplify road user decisions, minimise impact angles and minimise impact speeds. One aspect of safer road design is to reduce the mistakes and errors that road users make. ‘Self-explaining’ roads achieve this through consistent roads that make it easier for drivers to match their behaviour to the environment.²⁶ The other aspect of safer road design is to reduce the severity of crashes that do occur. ‘Forgiving’ roads include measures that take into account unintentional road user errors and mistakes, and incorporate road design features that reduce the likelihood of crashes and reduce their severity when they do occur.

Vehicles are becoming more automated and connected. As vehicle technology advances, we will require road infrastructure that helps to support the operation of automated and connected vehicles. We will continue to review technical road standards and guidelines in the context of changing vehicle performance, new technologies and other new information. Autonomous vehicle technologies are likely to provide significant supporting contributions to the Safe System vision now and into the future. To support autonomous vehicles, a range of changes to the way we build and operate our roads may be required, such as changes to line marking and road signs that allow vehicles to consistently read our roads.

Safety and the consequences of crashes will be a key consideration in the way we manage, build and maintain our transport infrastructure.

Trains and trams provide a critical network for the transport of passengers and freight across our State. However, the combination of speed, passengers and freight travelling on intersecting rail and road systems has the potential for high impact or catastrophic incidents. While they do not occur often, any incident at a level crossing can cause service disruptions, motorist delays, property damage and, in the most serious cases, injury and death. The impacts on communities and the economy can be significant and far-reaching. Research has shown that the major cause of crashes at level crossings is road user behaviour like inattention, distraction, risk taking and disobeying the road rules. Responsibility for managing level crossing safety is shared by many organisations, including State and local governments and rail infrastructure owners.

Safe system road treatments

Safe system treatments seek to create a forgiving road system, and are used in locations where there is a high risk of a crash, not just those locations where crashes have already occurred. The most common crash types on regional roads are run-off-road and head-on crashes. We will continue to prioritise works to address these. The treatments selected will depend on the role and function of the road, the volume and type of traffic, and both the crash risk and history on the road and are subject to continuous improvements over time.

Strategies for safer roads for all road users is located on the Walking, cycling and public transport page.