Article 4U.K.Road safety audits for infrastructure projects
1.Member States shall ensure that road safety audits are carried out for all infrastructure projects.
2.When carrying out road safety audits the Member States shall endeavour to meet the criteria set out in Annex II.
Member States shall ensure that an auditor is appointed to carry out an audit of the design characteristics of an infrastructure project.
The auditor shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of Article 9(4) and shall have the necessary competence and training provided for in Article 9. Where audits are undertaken by teams, at least one member of the team shall hold a certificate of competence as referred to in Article 9(3).
3.Road safety audits shall form an integral part of the design process of the infrastructure project at the stage of draft design, detailed design, pre-opening and early operation.
4.Member States shall ensure that the auditor sets out safety critical design elements in an audit report for each stage of the infrastructure project. Where unsafe features are identified in the course of the audit but the design is not rectified before the end of the appropriate stage as referred to in Annex II, the reasons shall be stated by the competent entity in an Annex to that report.
5.Member States shall ensure that the report referred to in paragraph 4 shall result in relevant recommendations from a safety point of view.
[F16. The Commission shall provide guidance for the design of ‘ forgiving roadsides ’ and ‘ self-explaining and self-enforcing roads ’ in the initial audit of the design phase, as well as guidance on quality requirements regarding vulnerable road users. Such guidance shall be developed in close cooperation with Member State experts.]