The REAAA Road Safety Committee (RSC) is one of the three sub-committees reporting to the REAAA Technical Committee. It was established at the 108th Governing Council meeting in Brisbane, Australia, in May 2018. The first meeting focussed on the topics to be dealt with by the sub-committee. At the same time, cooperation with, and reference to, the PIARC Road Safety Committee was to be maintained so that collaborative activities of mutual interest to both REAAA and PIARC could be addressed. A similar strategy was adopted with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP).
The purpose of the project described in this report was to gain a better understanding of the current issues related to the safety of vulnerable road users (VRU), particularly users of powered-two-wheeled (PTW) vehicles. The strategy adopted was to determine the road infrastructure programs, or road safety measures, that are in place in REAAA member countries and to identify the problems pertaining to the drivers conflicting with VRUs, especially drivers of PTWs.
The work involved an investigation of existing strategies, or plans, in terms of providing the appropriate infrastructure or countermeasures to improve the safety of drivers of PTW’s. Selected successful case studies are presented in this report as a means of referencing some of the best practices adopted by REAAA member countries.
The following comments are offered based on the information provided by each country, included case studies:
- Indonesia has the highest percentage of PTW (84%), followed by Thailand (52%) and Malaysia (46%).
- Malaysia and Indonesia have recorded the highest rate of fatalities (74% and 70% respectively) for all types of PTWs while the highest fatality rate for pedestrians is in Korea (35%) and Japan (31%).
- Korea has the highest fatality rate among the 30-60 years old group (78%). In terms of the young age group of 16-29 years age group, Singapore has the highest fatality rate of 37%
- High-income countries (HIC) with high VOSL have a lower fatality rate per 100,000 population compared to the low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
- The main or similar crash causes among the participating countries were speeding and dangerous driving.
Based on the case studies presented by the participating countries, it can be concluded that only Malaysia has implemented dedicated countermeasures for motorcycles (i.e. NEMCL), while Thailand is more focussed on proactive measures such as road safety audits. To ensure a safer environment for pedestrian and cyclists, countries such as New Zealand and Korea presented dedicated countermeasures to curb speeding and promote segregation. Among all the participating countries, Australia has the most comprehensive countermeasures and programs for VRUs: it is the only country that has established guidelines for micromobility devices.