Network safety policy

Buckinghamshire Council (BC) recognises that the highway authority should take measures to prevent collisions and to promote the safe access to opportunities, services and facilities for all highway users. These measures include:

• dissemination of road safety information and advice
• provision of practical training for road users
• use of measures for controlling and assisting the movement of traffic on all roads
• use of appropriate measures for reducing the risk of collisions when constructing new roads and alterations to the existing highway (such as collision investigation, prevention and safety audit)

Buckinghamshire Highways carries out a series of activities to respond to BC’s statutory duty under the Road Traffic Act 1988 updated in 1991. BC will adopt an evidence-based approach using collision data to ensure resources are targeted towards high risk road users who, through collision data analysis, are shown to be most at risk, such as young drivers, motorcyclists, older drivers and business drivers. BC aims to achieve this through:

• education/publicity targeted at most common contributory factors
• training aimed at Buckinghamshire’s most vulnerable road users
• engineering measures at sites and routes following collision investigation and analysis with a high rate of reported injury collisions both in number and severity.
• enforcement initiatives in partnership with Thames Valley Police
• road safety audits undertaken on schemes in accordance with GG119 and road safety assessments