IRF conducted a webinar last week titled “Minimum Requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders.”  The response was amazing with over 400 people registering from 79 countries around the world.  The amount of questions was even more incredible!
 
To develop the attached IRF Policy Statement on Minimum Requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders, IRF conducted multiple surveys with road authorities, design engineers and Road Safety Auditors around the world.  The confusion in the marketplace was unbelievable!  Some road authorities reported that they were conducting Road Safety Audits, but when we explained that a Road Safety Audit is a Formal Evaluation of a planned or existing road or intersection by an Independent, Multi-Disciplinary, Experienced Team, they often backed down on their claims.  Very few countries had any formal requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders and therefore, many were getting less than acceptable results from their audits.
 
It is imperative that the world is aware of the proper Road Safety Audit processes and the world adopts standard requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders.  IRF is making the effort to achieve these goals through the  IRF Executive Training Program: “Safer Roads by Design™: An Introduction to Engineering Fundamentals for Road Safety Auditing”, to be held March 13- 17, 2016 in Dubai, UAE.

This course will clearly define the concept of Safety Audits. The first three days will be used to introduce attendees to some of the more typical practical safety countermeasures used for roadside safety, work zone safety and vulnerable road user safety, while days four and five are dedicated to the 8 Steps of a Road Safety Audit.  Delegates, through a team approach, will conduct a Stage 4 Road Safety Inspection. As a part of this process, delegates will be able to utilize some of the countermeasures they learned about during the first three days. Delegates are also taught how to prepare and present a Summary Proposal for a project owner. 

You and your colleagues are encouraged to attend this training program. This training is ideal for individuals who want to become a Road Safety Audit Team Leader, and it will give them a clear understanding of the Road Safety Audit process, which will be helpful on future audits.

The IRF Member rate is US $3,000 and the Non Member rate is US
$3,500 for these five days of intensive and comprehensive road safety training. You can get additional information and register at this site: http://www.irfnews.org/event/srd16-dubai/

If someone seriously wants to know more about Road Safety Audits, then this course is for them.  I look forward to your positive response to help grow the concept of Road Safety Audit globally.
 
Best Regards,
Mike  
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STATEMENT OF POLICY
by the International Road Federation
“Minimum Requirements
for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders” November 2015
According to the International Transport Forum1 “Road Infrastructure Safety Management procedures are effective and efficient tools to help road authorities reduce the number of accidents and casualties, because design standards alone cannot guarantee road safety in all condition”.
The International Road Federation (IRF) strongly supports the extended and expanded use of these procedures, chief among which Road Safety Audits and Inspections. IRF has previously endorsed a resolution2 supporting the mandatory introduction of, and associated funding for, road safety audits linked to all new road investment loans by Multilateral Development Banks.
The ultimate goal is to use locally-drawn expertise to conduct these audits and/or inspections wherever possible. This in turn requires road authorities to have a clear definition detailing who can conduct audits and inspections.
An unqualified Road Safety Audit Team Leader (RSATL) could miss obvious safety concerns resulting in an unsafe road. Worse yet, the road authority would be using its limited financial resources to conduct these audits with less than acceptable results. Poorly performed or badly documented Road Safety Audits can have negative effects on safety.
In order to ensure minimum qualification criteria are met, each country needs to establish a national certifying body or set accreditation standards for independent third party bodies, whether national or international, to train and certify Road Safety Audit Team Leaders. IRF recommends that this certifying body be determined by the National Road Authority. In countries where no national certifying body currently exists, IRF will provide a list of reputed Road Safety Audit training centers that could be used to certify RSATL until the national certifying body is established.
This document is designed by the International Road Federation (IRF) to create guidelines for the minimum qualifications for Road Safety Auditor Team Leaders to ensure the quality and effectiveness of audits & inspections.
1 OECD/ITF (2015) research report “Road Infrastructure Safety Management”
2 IRF (2015) policy statement “Setting Ambitious Road Safety Requirements”
IRF Statement of Policy- Requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders Page 2
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RECOMMENDED MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION
OF A ROAD SAFETY AUDIT TEAM LEADER
The Road Safety Audit Team Leader (RSATL) Leader needs to meet the following requirements at a minimum. Road Authorities in a particular countries may require additional characteristics, training, education, etc. based on the specific needs of the country.
 Independent: RSATL cannot be employed by the organization that is hiring the Road Safety Audit (RSA) team.
 Professional Experience: Prior to application for RSATL Certification, have a minimum of five (5) years relevant experience in a road design, road construction, traffic law enforcement or traffic engineering field. For RSATL conducting Design/Redesign to Pre-Opening Stage Road Safety Audits, also known as Pre-Construction Stage Road Safety Audits, an engineering degree with a focus on road design, road safety or traffic engineering may also be required.
 Understanding of RSA: Within eighteen (18) months prior to application for RSATL Certification, successfully receive a certificate from a recognized Road Safety Audit training course with a minimum of at least sixteen (16) hours duration; as well as at least one recognized certified training course of eight (8) hours that covers Road Safety Legal Issues, Legislation and Policy, Collision Investigation, Road Safety Engineering, or Road Design. The International Road Federation (IRF) can provide certification for these courses.
 RSA Experience: Prior to application for RSATL Certification, provide verifiable evidence of participation on RSA teams that conducted a minimum of five (5) audits in each of the previous two (2) years with an explanation of the applicant’s participation and knowledge gained. The Road Safety Audit Team Leader on these teams must sign off on this experience, verifying that the applicant actively and significantly participated in the process.
 Industry Knowledge: continue to be aware of developments in best practices and state of the art technologies regarding road safety. This knowledge is only gained through active participation in training programs, in person or online and/or attendance at Road Safety Congresses and Exhibitions.
 On-Going Recertification Requirements: Conduct a minimum of four (4) audits in a year as Team Leader. Attend or teach a minimum of one minimum sixteen hour (16) hour certified training course in Accident Investigation or one minimum sixteen hour (16) hour training course in Road Safety Engineering every twenty-four (24) months. The International Road Federation (IRF) can provide certification for these courses.
 Organizational Skills: Able to identify and appoint necessary team Members (2 to 6 people) based on project requirements. These Members could include a Road Safety Specialist (Accident Investigator), a Traffic Operations Engineer, a Road Design Engineer, Maintenance Personnel, a Local Contact Person, Law Enforcement, a Pedestrian Safety Specialist, a Bicycle Safety Specialist, a Motorcycle Safety Specialist, a Roadside Safety Specialist, a Traffic Psychologist, a Persons with Disabilities Specialist, etc.
IRF Statement of Policy- Requirements for Road Safety Audit Team Leaders Page 3
 The following Traits are also highly recommended for any RSATL
- Ability to co-ordinate tasks, liaise with others within deadlines.
- Ability to write clear, concise reports.
- Ability to visualize schemes from plans, from the point of view of ALL road users.
- Good attention to detail.
- Ability to understand complex schemes.
- Ability to use Road Safety Audit prompt lists to make roads safer for all road users.

A team put together in Australia will field Matthew Brabham in the historic 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 next May.
In a major coup for what is recognised as one of the biggest motor races in the world, Brabham will pilot a Chevrolet-powered IndyCar that will be backed by successful fluid transfer solutions company Pirtek.
Pirtek Team Murray is the creation of Speedcafe.com founder Brett Murray and will be fielded under the KV Racing Technology umbrella which won the Indy 500 in 2013 with Tony Kanaan.
The program will also see Team Murray compete in the May 14’s Angie’s List Grand Prix event on the road course at Indianapolis as a warm-up for the 500.
Murray, who has been a regular at the Brickyard over the last 20 years, says he made a promise to Sir Jack Brabham before he died in May last year that he would do everything to help with Matthew’s career.
“I have had a dream of having my own car in the Indy 500 since before Matt was born and Matt has had a dream of being a starter in the 500 since he was old enough to get behind the wheel,” Murray, who also owns the BAM Group of companies said.
“I have been extremely fortunate to have had Pirtek as a client and be a part of the Pirtek ‘family’ for more than 15 years and I could not think of any better people to be standing in pit lane beside us at next year’s 100th Indy 500.
“I made a promise to Sir Jack (Brabham) before he passed away that I would do what I could to help Matt’s career.”
Brabham’s entry will see the 21-year-old follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Sir Jack who revolutionised the race by running the first rear engine car at the Brickyard in 1961.

Matthew’s father Geoff, a four-times IMSA champion, contested 10 Indy 500s with his best finish of fourth in 1983.
The only other families to run a third generation driver in the Indy 500 are the Vukovich and Andretti clans.
Pirtek and Team Murray are also planning a series of business and charity initiatives that will be linked to the Indy 500 program.
The next step of the team roll-out will include a major announcement at Indianapolis later next week.

Team Murray has ensured another chapter of the Brabham dynasty is written into Indianapolis folklore.

The US-born but Gold Coast raised Brabham’s career had lost momentum this year with limited Indy Lights drives and sporadic Formula E appearances.

He had made a strong fist of the IndyCar ladder system, winning the USF2000 series and the Pro Mazda Championship.
Brabham’s inclusion in the 500 sees him become the ninth Australian to race in the 200-lap epic.

“There is no doubt that this is a dream come true,” Brabham said.
“I cannot thank ‘Crusher’ enough for his belief and Glenn Duncan and Pirtek for their faith and financial commitment.
“To have the support of a fantastic company like Pirtek for my first Indy 500 really is amazing.”
Pirtek chief executive Glenn Duncan says the investment in Team Murray fits with its US expansion plans.
“We have been working hard on getting all our systems in place for a well-structured expansion in the US market,” Duncan said.
“A partnership with Team Murray and Matt Brabham provides a perfect platform for us to showcase the value of our franchise network to America while giving us enormous leveraging opportunities globally.”
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The announcement coincides with Brabham’s second appearance in the Stadium Super Trucks at Sydney Olympic Park this weekend after he made a lightning trip to Spain to test Audi’s RS5 DTM car at Jerez.

​Imagine the worldwide alarm if a fully loaded Boeing 747 airplane was crashing everyday somewhere around the world.  This would be the number one topic in every legislative body, at every dinner table and the lead story on every news channel.  Countless amounts of money, energy and time would be spent to come up with some solution to this tragic situation that would threaten to shut down economies from the United States to Germany to Japan to South Africa to Australia to Chile. Finding an answer to stop these airplanes from crashing would be the single most important issue for all of mankind.
Statistically speaking, two and a half to three and a half fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes crash everyday…on the roads around the world.  Depending on whose figures you want to use, anywhere from 400,000 to 700,000 people are killed every year on the roads. Too often unless the person in the accident is someone close to us or someone famous, no one notices the death and the carnage continues with seemingly little concern by road authorities.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely eliminate all accidents around the world.  As long as humans are driving the vehicles, accidents will happen on the roads.  All humans make mistakes.  When you make a mistake with a steering wheel in your hand, the result can be a very serious traffic accident.  While these accidents will never go away, it is possible to design highways to use today’s technology to make these impacts less severe.  In effect, this technology is forgiving motorists when they make a mistake, and not making the motorist pay for his or her mistake with capital punishment by giving up his or her life. 
Highways are often called a country's arteries. It is a deserving description. Just as a body uses veins and arteries to circulate blood, highways are used to circulate people throughout a country. The challenge highway engineers in the Twenty-First Century and beyond is to utilize state of the art technology to provide kilometers of roads in very small areas near, or in cities around the world. This is where people want to live and this is where the roads are needed.  One of the inevitable results of these new highway designs, through no fault of the designs themselves, just the lack of ideal geometries, will be black spots, or dangerous potential accident areas. These typically are areas where drivers need to make decisions.  When making a decision, the driver can be either right or wrong.
Approximately thirty percent of those fatal accidents will be single vehicle, non-pedestrian (SVNP) accidents where a car will run off the road and impact a rigid roadside object.  These rigid roadside hazards include bridge abutments, bridge piers in the median, median barrier terminals, bridge rail ends, sign supports, railroad crossing signal arms, or the barrier ends located in the aptly named “gore areas" at exits, to name just a few.
Locating a black spot is not difficult. Ask any traffic policeman where additional roadside hazard protection is needed, and he or she will quickly start to tell you when he or she last used the "Jaws of Life" to free a mangled body from a crashed vehicle. Ask an experienced highway design engineer to unfold new highway drawings, and he or she will undoubtedly be able to identify a location with poor geometries that could be a problem. Ask a safety auditor in England or Australia to review an evaluated highway, and he or she will be aware of many roadside locations that could be made safer with improved crash protection. 
Most qualified experts in the highway safety industry could travel any road in any country around the world and identify multiple dangerous roadside hazards that are not properly shielded. The experts may also identify stopped or slow moving trucks in work zones that can be extremely dangerous to motorists, even when these trucks are fitted with arrow boards, lights and variable message signs.  They may also point out inadequate protection for workers and motorists due to the use of cones or barricades in these work zones. 
Not correcting a dangerous condition on the highway can prove to be a much more costly option than treating the site with a properly designed and tested crash protection. Utilizing proper crash management is proving on a daily basis around the world that it is a highly economic tool that must be used to improve roadway safety.  

Radio-interrupt technology is opening up new ways to improve worksite safety on Australian roads, but there are plenty more challenges ahead.......to continue reading, select link below

As far as racing goes, Peter Boylan – Managing Director of the Boylan Group of businesses, and Deputy VP ARDC  Board Member – has an impressive career on the track spanning more than three decades. Peter began racing in 1976 and has piloted everything from open wheelers to production cars and sports cars.

While putting a BMW M3 through its paces across Mount Panorama in 2003, Peter notably won his class at the Bathurst 24 Hour and achieved a 6th Place finish outright. He then followed this up during a second year with another Top 10 finish, outright. Two BMW’s were originally raced back then, and Peter still has the first one nestled lovingly in storage.

It wasn’t until some influence and coercion by buddy Geoff Morgan, which saw Peter co-purchase a 997 GT3 Cup car to make his foray into the Porsche world, competing in the Asian Carrera Cup series.
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“I jumped into that car without any practice or testing at all ..........please click link below to continue reading

​We were utterly shocked and disappointed by the recklessness of fellow motorists when reviewing the statistics from our latest Test Case for a NSW public school and council.
The Test Case involved the placement of our traffic counting and speed radar (Boylan TCRadar) for a period of three weeks, analyzing the effects on driver behaviour around a school zone, with and without a Boylan SpeedCheck trailer.
The TCRadar demonstrated that prior to the introduction of the SpeedCheck sign, 78% of motorists were speeding within the school-zone time periods of 8-9.30am & 2.30-4pm; That’s 3527 motorists out of 4526 in just one week at an average speed of 46kph. The highest recorded speed was 106kph in the school-zone, which we think you will agree is cause for concern.
The introduction of a Boylan SpeedCheck trailer saw the number of speeding incidence reduce by 30%. With the average speed reducing to 41.9kph. When the SpeedCheck was removed, a week later, the speeding incidence increased by over 20% demonstrating that motorists were returning to historic behavioural patterns.
We thank and applaud the Public School and Council for assisting this trial which has confirmed their concerns and furnished data to allow informed decision making for the benefit and safety of their students.
SpeedCheck is available as a permanent or trailer mounted package.