Strategies to Tackle the Issue of Speed for Road Safety in the Asia-Pacific Region: Implementation Framework
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ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations and serves as the main economic and social development centre for the United Nations in Asia and the Pacific. Its mandate is to foster cooperation among its 53 members and 9 associate members. ESCAP provides the strategic link between global and country-level programmes and issues. It supports the Governments of the region in consolidating regional positions and advocates regional approaches to meeting the region’s unique socio-economic challenges in a globalizing world. The ESCAP office is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Please visit our website at www.unescap.org for further information. The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members. Cover photograph: photo of a motorist speeding in a residential school zone. Source: [jhorrocks] / [iStocks.com] Strategies to Tackle the Issue of Speed for Road Safety in the Asia-Pacific Region: Implementation Framework © 2019 United Nations The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Secretariat. The opinions, figures, tables, estimates and recommendations depicted in this report are those of the author and should not necessarily be considered as reflecting the views or carrying the endorsement of the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material including maps in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention of firm names and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. This document has been issued without formal editing. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided that the source is acknowledged. The ESCAP Publications Office would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use may be made of this publication for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent or reproduction, should be addressed to the Secretary of the Publications Board, United Nations, New York. United Nations publication issued by the Sustainable Transport Section, Transport Division, ESCAP. United Nations publication Copyright © United Nations 2019 All rights reserved Manufactured in Thailand e-ISBN: ST/ESCAP/2888 Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Ms. Chika Sakashita, an independent international road safety consultant. The report was prepared under the overall guidance of Ishtiaque Ahmed, Economic Affairs Officer as the Project Officer. Valuable advices were extended by Jo Fung, Chief of Sustainable Transportation Section and by Mr. Weimin Ren, Director, Transport Division of ESCAP. The report was informally edited by Stuart Homan, an international editor and Selim Denoux, Research Assistant. Some data used were analysed by Jiemi Zhao and Shan Wei, interns of Sustainable Transportation Section of Transport Division, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Government of the Russian Federation for the generous funding for this study. Experts and delegates from member countries have offered valuable comments on the development of this document. Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Speed management: reducing travel speeds and speeding..................................................................... 6 1.3 Benefits of effective speed management ............................................................................................... 6 2. The relationship between road safety and speed in ESCAP member States .......................................... 13 2.1 The type and number of road deaths in ESCAP member States .......................................................... 13 2.2 Speed management measures implemented by ESCAP member countries, as reported in the WHO Global status report on road safety 2018 ................................................................................................... 18 2.3 Speed management in ESCAP member countries, as highlighted in International Road Assessment Programme data ......................................................................................................................................... 22 2.4 Speed management measures implemented by ESCAP member countries, as reported in a survey conducted by ESCAP ................................................................................................................................ 26 3. Challenges in ESCAP member countries with respect to speed management ....................................... 29 4. Opportunities in ESCAP member countries with respect to speed management .................................. 36 4.1 Setting survivable speed limits ............................................................................................................ 36 4.2 Strengthening deterrence of speeding .................................................................................................. 39 4.3 Road engineering measures to reduce speeds ...................................................................................... 41 4.4 Vehicle speed reduction technologies .................................................................................................. 46 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................... 48 6. Recommendations, including an implementation framework ................................................................. 50 6.1 Speed limit review ............................................................................................................................... 53 6.2 Strengthening deterrence of speeding .................................................................................................. 56 6.3 Road modifications to reduce speeds ................................................................................................... 60 6.4 Safer vehicles ....................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix A. ...................................................................................................................................................... 69 Appendix B. ...................................................................................................................................................... 72 Appendix C. ...................................................................................................................................................... 75 Appendix D. ...................................................................................................................................................... 78 December 2019 | I Tables Table 1. Number of ESCAP member countries that have implemented various speed management measures. ........................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 2. Case study: casualty reductions following speed limit reductions and casualty increases following speed limit increases in Australia and United States of America. ..................................................................... 37 Table 3. Stepwise illustration of the implementation framework ...................................................................... 51 Table 4. Recommended minimum length of speed zones .................................................................................. 53 Table 5. Appropriate speed limits for different scenarios in which severe crashes are possible ....................... 54 Table 6. Appropriate speed limits for different road infrastructure safety levels. ............................................. 54 Table 7. Different types and uses of speed cameras .......................................................................................... 59 Table 8. Road infrastructure elements that have been shown to reduce vehicle speeds .................................... 61 Table 9. Infrastructure improvements on rural and urban arterial roads with a proven track record of reducing speeds and the number of crashes ...................................................................................................................... 64 Table 10. Possible road modifications that can reduce the incidence of severe crashes on high speed roads ... 65 Table 11. Car assessment programmes in the ESCAP region ........................................................................... 66 Table 12. Type and number of road deaths in ESCAP member