As a rural Beacon Authority for road safety excellence, Northamptonshire County Council was invited to take part in a Department for Transport funded project to reduce rural road injury collisions.

Our project aimed to identify and prioritise the issues by evaluation of the data that underlies the casualty problem on the county's rural road network in order to develop innovative strategies, interventions and solutions.

In Northamptonshire it was determined that a zonal approach would be the most effective option both in terms of data analysis and applying interventions. This decision took into account important factors such as the growth agenda for Northamptonshire, demographics and road classification.

 

The rural micro zone identified was located in the south west of the county and forms part of the South Northants District. It comprises 45 parishes, and includes 54 villages of varying sizes with populations between 50 and 3750 residents, with larger population areas of Towcester (8,850 residents) and Brackley (13,330 residents) on the periphery. In addition this zone borders the nearby counties of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

 

The zonal area covers a total of 406.3sq km, with a perimeter distance of 109km.

The zone was subjected to a thorough detailed collision analysis process.

 

Three years worth of collision data was analysed from 2005 – 2007 and the eight most ‘dangerous' routes were identified covering a total length 102km. These were the primary roads which were subjected to our route management strategy, using the same protocols as our current, and successful ‘Red Route' strategy.

 

There were a total of 282 collisions within the zone in the three years analysed and of those, 120 occurred specifically on the eight chosen routes.

 

 

The basis of this project was to combine the three "E"s of Education, Engineering and Enforcement, in order to achieve casualty reductions across the zone.

 

We made no distinction between road classifications, but concentrated our activity at the sites where interventions will be most effective.

 

Detailed studies were carried out along each route in order to positively identify the most appropriate location for any engineering intervention, drawn from a large menu of options.

 

The enforcement element of the project, carried out by our police partners, was designed to influence driver behaviour within the zone, and more specifically on the eight identified routes. This was intelligence led and targeted at known locations and road user groups through a planned programme of activity.

 

The overall objective was to provide a visible deterrent factor and thus encouraged motorists to slow down and pay more attention.

 

The initial data analysis exercise also identified a number of road user groups and causation factors that were over-represented and lent themselves to a comprehensive education programme.

 

As a core element of the education, publicity and communication strategy the official ‘Rightracks' Project will be launched on Tuesday 2 September 2008, at Sulgrave Manor located centrally within the zone. At the launch, a small community representative forum was established in order to ensure that local issues and potential solutions were considered throughout the duration of the project.

 

A comprehensive review of the Rightracks project is being compiled by the Department for Transport and will be available in October.

 

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