Road Safety

The state of the art in using GIS to integrate crash data with other information sources, and resources and capabilities available for this purpose in Australia and New Zealand, were established through a literature review and a series of consultations with road authorities and other stakeholders. Although most road authorities now have, or are about to acquire, the capacity to link crash records to asset inventory, asset condition surveys, maintenance activities, traffic surveys and many other information sources, relatively few safety projects appear to use GIS methods. There is a need to improve fundamental understanding of the relationship between crash occurrence and road characteristics under Australian and New Zealand conditions. In most authorities, there is also a need to develop better links to other data systems and to ensure better data quality and more complete coverage. Shortage of GIS skills and limited awareness of the possibilities offered by integrated data systems were identified as factors which limited the effective use of current systems. Encouraging the acquisition of skills and workshops to introduce the topic to managers are called for. The availability of an effective system for analysis of crashes and management of safety should provide an incentive to rectify these problems.