Evaluation of Road Safety with Paramics
Abstract
The paper discusses the evaluation of road safety impacts in traditional road user cost benefit analyses of road projects. It shows that road safety benefits are underestimated because we do not usually evaluate the delays that accidents cause to other road users. Using Paramics ® , a microscopic simulation modelling package, the delays to vehicles caused by incidents on the road system have been estimated for comparison with the costs usually calculated.
The paper is laid out as follows:
- Current methods of cost benefit analysis are described, in particular the accident cost component.
- A method of estimating the delays that road accidents cause to other road users is presented.
- The implications for road safety measures are discussed.