Safety engineering

Safety engineering is responsible for accident reduction schemes throughout the county. The team analyses accident data and targets sites suitable for improvement.

Accident Reduction and Prevention

Accident sites

The accidents are represented on the map by the following symbols,

Fatal 
A fatal accident is an accident in which a person is killed.  

Serious 
A serious accident is an accident in which a person is seriously injured (that is; fracture, concussion, internal injury, crushing, bruises, severe cuts or lacerations, severe general shock).

A slight accident is one in which a person is slightly injured (that is; whiplash, bruise, cut slight shock or injuries not requiring medical treatment.

The road safety department of Suffolk County Council investigate and carry out studies at locations in the county where there have been 4 or more personal injury accidents, recorded by the Police, in the past three years.

Each year a priority site list is produced for the above - click here to download a PDF.

From this list schemes are selected for investigation and possible remedial action.

After investigations of these locations we will design and implement safety improvements that will try to prevent the likelihood of similar accidents occurring in the future and improve road safety throughout Suffolk.

These schemes are required to meet Government targets in terms of accident and casualty reduction. Schemes must also provide value for money in terms of the cost of the works related to cost of the accidents estimated to be saved. Road Safety Engineers use the following formula to calculate the "First Year Rate of Return (FRRT) " to ensure that the schemes provide value for money.

For example: http://www.dft.gov.uk

Once schemes are introduced they are closely monitored. A record of the work done and the date in which the scheme is introduced is recorded on a monitoring database.

Before and after accident and casualty rates are compared to assess whether the work is successful. In addition the data created by the monitoring system is used to estimate and propose solutions for future schemes.

The enforcement of existing speed limits is carried out by Suffolk Police.

In October Suffolk CC and Suffolk Police are launching a partnership project for community beat officers to carry out enforcement of speed limits within their parishes. This project is in addition to the ongoing speed enforcement by roads policing. Suffolk County Council has purchased 20 hand held laser speed guns for this project.

Accident Sites Under Investigation

Safety Cameras

SID

It displays the motorist's speed, with a view to encouraging them to drive within the speed limit. SID is essentially the friendly side of speed enforcement, non-threatening but never the less effective. Speeds have shown to be reduced during SID's visits and early monitoring of accidents, shows pleasing results.

SID works by embarrassing motorists into complying with speed limits, by displaying their speed for all to see. If drivers are within the limit their speed is displayed followed by a smiling face, as if to say thank you. If the speed displayed is above the speed limit, then SID produces a disapproving frown.

SID is deployed anywhere in the county where there may be a perceived speeding problem within a 20, 30 or 40mph speed limit. SID will be deployed at requested location (as long as it is safe to do so) for a hour at a time. Each requested location will receive 3 visits and speeds will be recorded and downloaded.

Once 3 visits have been undertaken, each site is ranked against all others visited throughout Suffolk, to determine their re-visit criteria. The data collected by SID will be passed to the relevant County Councillor and Parish/Town council, for their information. If the data recorded at a location is found to be above the Police's enforcement level, this information is passed to the police.

The deployment of SID is via SID cars, these are specially liveried Smart Cars resplendent in yellow and black paint work. The object is high visibility but friendly persuasion speed compliance.

To book SID on-line click here

Speed Limits

Enforcement of speed limits is the responsibility of the Police.

Suffolk County Council deals with requests to change speed limits from Parish, Town or District Councils. Individuals requesting changes to a speed limit, should seek support from the above before submitting a request.

When asked to change a speed limit on a road, Suffolk County Council will take the following into consideration:

• Whether the request meets our criteria
• Characteristics of the road, for example if it is straight, narrow or flat, windy and so on;
• Effect of the current and proposed speed limits on local residents;
• Level of activity on the side of the road; and
• Road's accident history;
• Costs of enforcement, especially where the speed limit is regarded as unreasonable by drivers;
• Costs of engineering measures and their maintenance;
• Costs of implementation;
• Delays to traffic;
• Expected accidents savings;
• Improved facilities for vulnerable road users;
• Improvement in amenities;
• Improvement to the environment; and
• Reduction in public anxiety

Any requested change to a speed limit requires the support of the Police to proceed. If a requested speed limit is fully supported, a new speed limit order has to be made. This is a legal process that takes approximately nine months to complete. If objections are received to the order and cannot be resolved, the proposal is referred to Suffolk County Council's Rights of Way sub Committee and Executive Committee for determination.

We are not permitted to place 30mph repeater signs on roads in built up areas with a system of street lighting, as the lighting in the area is evidence that a 30mph speed limit is in place.

Speed Management

Suffolk County Council receives requests to introduce measures to reduce speeds, in areas where it is perceived there is a speeding problem.

Before any works are undertaken a survey is carried out to assess the existing speeds. The existing signing and road markings are checked to ensure they meet the current standards. The personal injury accident record for a location is also checked to see whether funding can be made available to carry out works.

Speed management measures may include:

• Entry Treatments/Gateways;
• Rumble Strips (these should not be used within 300metre radius of a property, because of noise pollution);
• Carriageway speed limit roundels; (not possible in areas with street lighting
• Road narrowings;
• Priority Systems;
• General signing and road markings;
• Vehicular Actuated Signs;

All of the above may have some success in reducing speed, however, all of these measures can have negative effects on the environment in terms of the visual appearance and noise pollution. In addition electronic signs are very expensive and have on-going maintenance costs attached.