Analysis of road safety assessment methods

This article analyzes advantages and disadvantages of the methods approved at the legislative level and methods developed by various researchers. To identify advantages and disadvantages of each method, an experiment were carried out. During the experiment, safety of the 796 km section of the federal road R255 was assessed. Based on the analysis, all the methods were divided into three large groups: statistical methods, probabilistic methods, and methods based on the analysis of car movement on the road section under consideration. All the accident analysis methods applied in Russia and approved at the legislative level assess road safety when the accident has already occurred, i.e. post-factum. In this regard, it is relevant to identify patterns between the characteristics of the road section, vehicle movement parameters and road accident probability. Using these patterns, road safety can be improved.