Road Design

“Reducing risk in the world’s road traffic systems requires commitment and informed decision-making by government, industry, non-governmental organizations and international agencies. It also requires the participation of people from many different disciplines, including road engineers, motor vehicle designers, law enforcement officers, health professionals, educators, and community groups.”

(Source: Association for Safe International Road Travel. (n.d.). Road Safety Facts. Retrieved February 01, 2016.)

“Unfortunately, roadside crashes account for far too great a portion of the total fatal highway crashes. About thirty percent, or almost one in every three fatalities, are the result of a single vehicle run-off-the-road crash. These figures mean that the roadside environment comes into play in a very significant percentage of fatal and serious-injury crashes.”

(Source: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. (2002). Roadside Design Guide. (3rd ed.))

When it comes to analyzing road design, engineering judgment is key. Typically, a road design issue is only brought to attention when there has been a single vehicle accident that was caused because of poor road design and essential safety violations.  The Accident Expert™ provides extensive engineering expertise for a vast range of roadways including major interstate highway systems and collector and local streets and subdivisions.

When working with these types of cases, we apply three basic steps:

  1. Acquire necessary and relevant information
  2. Develop our analysis and issue reports as requested
  3. Participate in any legal proceedings

In gathering our information about a case, we make many inquiries, look at all evidence obtained, and use this information to form our analysis. To do all of this we:

  • Examine photographs of the area and accident
  • Review accident and police reports
  • Review construction and design regulations
  • Collect witness and participant statements
  • Conduct an executive interview with the participant(s), gathering information as they tell us what happened from their point of view
  • Determine if the site design was proper for use and not simply approved on paper

The Accident Expert™ welcomes and encourages all inquiries related to road design.