UWE Bristol receives grant to research road safety

The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has received £117,000 from the Road Safety Trust to undertake research to assist in the design development of side road crossings.

The Road Safety Trust, a charity dedicated to making the UK's roads the safest in the world, is awarding £837,900 to a total of six organisations across the UK in February 2020 to help improve road safety.

The aim of the project is provide a basis for better side road designs to reduce risk to road users. This will be achieved by analysing and categorising different types of provision, investigating the risk reduction of different designs, understanding how road users behave in different circumstances, and why they behave in the way they do. The team at UWE Bristol expects this well researched evidence base will underpin future design standards and guidance and help make roads safer for everyone.

Professor John Parkin at UWE Bristol said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this Road Safety Trust grant which will allow us to explore in depth the issues linked to the design of side road layouts and the way priority is offered to different users. There are significant pressures to improve street environments for all users, and understanding user behaviour will allow us to provide recommendations for principles to be adopted for further developments in making streets more comfortable, attractive and safe for all users.”

The Road Safety Trust is the largest independent road safety grant giver in the UK and funds vital research and practical interventions committed to reducing the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. Since it was established in 2014, the Road Safety Trust has awarded grants worth £2.7m to 35 different projects.

Sally Lines, Chief Executive of Road Safety Trust said: “The standard of applications was really high in 2019 with over 20 applications received under the theme 'Innovative traffic calming and provision for vulnerable road users'.

“We are pleased to be able to provide UWE with funding to help achieve our vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on UK roads. We want to make the roads safer for all users in particular vulnerable road users which includes pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.”

The Major Grants Programme for 2020 is open from 14 February with the theme of 'How can technology be used to reduce road offending and improve road safety?' For more information and to apply for funding, please visit the Road Safety Trust website.