This Directive requires the establishment and implementation of procedures relating to road safety impact assessments, road safety audits, road safety inspections and network-wide road safety assessments by the Member States.

This Directive shall apply to roads which are part of the trans-European road network, to motorways and to other primary roads, whether they are at the design stage, under construction or in operation.

This Directive shall also apply to roads and to road infrastructure projects not covered by paragraph 2 which are situated outside urban areas, which do not serve properties bordering on them and which are completed using Union funding, with the exception of roads that are not open to general motor vehicle traffic, such as bicycle paths, or roads that are not designed for general traffic, such as access roads to industrial, agricultural or forestry sites.

Member States may exempt from the scope of this Directive primary roads which have a low risk for safety, based on duly justified grounds connected to traffic volumes and accident statistics.

Member States may include in the scope of this Directive roads not referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.

Each Member State shall notify to the Commission, by 17 December 2021, the list of motorways and primary roads on its territory and, thereafter, any subsequent changes thereto. In addition, each Member State shall notify to the Commission the list of roads exempted in accordance with this paragraph from, or included in the scope of, this Directive, and, thereafter, any subsequent changes thereto.

The Commission shall publish the list of roads notified in accordance with this Article.

This Directive shall not apply to roads in tunnels covered by Directive 2004/54/EC.