The prime objective of the Road Safety Engineering Team is to reduce the number of accidents occurring on the County's roads and save lives. We are making progress towards this by working in two broad areas:-
- implementation of accident remedial engineering measures
- safety audit of proposed works to be carried out on the highway
In the first area, we target areas where accidents are already happening i.e. we are taking a reactive approach. Clusters of accidents are investigated in depth for common factors, both in terms of environment e.g. occurring on a wet road surface, and in behaviour e.g. driving with excessive speed.
In the case of problems with the road environment appropriate remedial measures are implemented e.g. in the case of loss of control on wet roads it might be necessary to improve drainage or skidding resistance. For behavioural problems measures are implemented to modify road user behaviour e.g. in the case of excess vehicle speed we might install a speed camera.
We work in close partnership with other parts of the Highways Division and give advice to all sections of the community such as Parish Councils, businesses and individual members of the public.
Our remit only runs to County Roads but we do maintain close links with the Highways Agency, who are responsible for Trunk Roads and Motorways in the County.