RSTA News
Despite the proven success of high friction surfacing in reducing the potential for accidents, its use is declining as local highway authorities face increased budgetary pressures. This has serious consequences for road safety warns Howard Robinson, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association. With road accidents each costing over £1 million, not installing high friction surfacing also has significant financial costs.
Used for over 40 years, high friction surfacing is proven to reduce breaking distances and, as a result, the risk of accidents. It works by reducing the potential for vehicles to skid by causing friction between the tyres of a vehicle and the highway. Such is its success that the London Accident Unit reported a 52% drop in skid accidents on those sites treated with high friction surfacing. When only wet weather conditions are considered, the reduction in skid accidents is 67%.
Typical locations for high friction surfacing include road junctions, approaches to traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and roundabouts in addition to road stretches that have high accident levels. According to the government’s National Road Maintenance Condition Survey two in three such sites failed its required skid resistance level and the Asphalt Industry Alliance reports that one in four accidents involves skidding often as a result of poor road maintenance or wet surfaces.
"These are all locations with a high risk of accidents. Treatment with high friction surfaces would make such locations far safer for both drivers and pedestrians", said Robinson. "Yet, despite the acknowledged benefits, the use of high friction surfacing has declined. This could seriously compromise road safety". He added: "There is also a financial cost. Once you include all the accident and investigation costs, the cost of non-motorway fatal accidents £1.4 million and motorway fatal accidents £1.7million per each accident. Overall, the cost of accidents is £18 billion a year. The application of high friction surfacing would reduce this cost".
The safety and financial benefits of high friction surfacing is underlined by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) which calculates that road accidents can be reduced by 5.5 per cent by improving road surfaces and that every £1 spent on skid resistance results in a saving of £5 in accident costs.
Robinson believes that smaller road budgets could be behind the decline in the provision of high friction surfacing. Highways departments continue to struggle to maintain or improve the condition of their roads due to the significant deficit in the amount of budget they report that they need. While there appears to be a reduction in the gap between the budget that authorities in England report that they need and the budget that they actually receive, they are still only receiving slightly over half the amount required. In Wales, authorities appear to be faring worse, receiving far less than half – only 44% – of the amount they estimate they need to maintain their roads adequately. The current economic climate may restrict budgets still further.
Local authorities have both a moral and a financial responsibility to adopt a proven surface treatment that would significantly reduce this figure by providing a safer road surface".
