1.35 million people die on the roads every year. Road Traffic Injuries are the 8th leading cause of death. The new resolution declares a new Decade of Action (2021-2030) with the objective to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030.

Road traffic crashes and resulted in fatalities and injuries are among the most challenging issues which the world is facing. Road Safety Audits (RSAs) is one of the main risk assessment tools that can be applied at successive stages of road planning, design, and operations.

As a result, Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center in the College of Engineering at QU has collaborated with the National Traffic Safety Committee of the State of Qatar, the International Road Federation (IRF), World Conference on Transport Research Society, and Khatib and Alami Consolidated Engineering order to emphasize the importance of RSAs.

This has enabled the establishment of an international technical workshop entitled “Role of Road Safety Audits in Improving Traffic Safety” and comprises of a series of three webinars. The aim of the workshop was to build knowledge and understanding of the importance and benefits of RSAs.

Furthermore, it provided introductory knowledge on the scope and procedure of RSAs as well as the role and skills of the RSA team. The workshop was attended daily by more than 450 international experts on road safety from more than 45 countries.

The webinar took place over three consecutive days, starting from November 8 till 10 this year. A group of distinguished experts from the International Road Federation (IRF) and members of the Spanish Association of Road Safety Auditors (ASEVI), delivered technical presentations addressing different issues related to road safety audits during the workshop.

The workshop was coordinated and moderated by Dr. Wael Alhajyaseen, Associate Professor at Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center and Chair of the “Traffic Safety Analysis and Policy” group in the World Conference on Transport Research Society.

Eng. Francisco Javier Lopez Delgado, Senior Road Safety Specialist in the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), highlighted the need to have unified procedures and criteria for having accredited, experts, well trained and independent Road Safety Auditors, and Senior Road Safety Specialists.

Mrs. Susanna Zammataro, IRF Director-General presented the Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure that was developed last year by the United Nations Road Safety collaboration group (UNRSC).

The framework that aims at building institutional capacity and regulatory frameworks to support countries in achieving UN Targets 3 and 4 in relation to Safer Road Infrastructure is being implemented as a pilot in Tanzania thanks to the support of the UN Road Safety Fund and a strong coalition made up of the IRF and other key agencies in Tanzania.

Eur. Ing. Miguel-Angel Serrano Santos, the Senior Road Safety Specialist in the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), discussed the consideration of road safety during the road design stage. He emphasized that complying with the current design standards do not necessarily guarantee road safety.

Therefore, it is very important that designers understand the analysis, and comments made by Road Safety Specialists when performing a Road Safety Audit. This will enable them to incorporate, in advance of their proposed designs, the standard problems and comments usually identified by Road Safety Auditors. Economically, this will save time and costs for all parties involved.

Road safety in tunnels covered by Eng. Guillermo Barreda Monteoliva, the Senior Road Safety Specialist, was the final topic in this workshop. He provided details for the construction elements and specific safety systems existing in tunnels.

He also highlighted the need of sharing this knowledge with tunnel users, for them to behave in a rational and efficient way while driving or walking during an incident/accident inside the tunnel. Road Safety Auditors should be educated in the use of these safety systems in order to ensure the well-being of the operation of the tunnels.

The workshop is part of the on-going collaboration between Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center and the International Road Federation

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