Roads in safe hands
A change in the road lay-out, a sign warning of a sharp bend ahead or a flashing light reminding us to slow down because we have entered a town are all measures which could help prevent an accident. Aberdeenshire Council principal engineer Andy Duff told Caroline Brodie about the work being done to make our roads safer
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EVERY time there is a fatal road accident in Aberdeenshire, Andy Duff, or one of his team, later visits the scene with a fine tooth comb searching for anything in the make-up of the road which could have been a contributory factor.
Although the road is very rarely to blame, Mr Duff said it was vital to be absolutely sure.
“On the very rare occasion there is something, we want to get it fixed as soon as possible because, obviously, we don’t want a reoccurrence,” he said.
“We walk through it and discuss with police the sequence of events and causes of the accident. We look at the condition of the road and everything that could have contributed to the accident.
“I have to say that the number of times we have looked at a fatal accident and come up with a problem on the road is very, very rare.”
According to statistics, 95% of road accidents are down to human error, with inappropriate and excessive speed and driving under the influence of drink or drugs major factors.
Young and inexperienced drivers are also particularly vulnerable, with one in three drivers aged 17-20 crashing within two years of passing their test, and an 18-year-old three times more likely to be involved in an accident than a 48-year-old.
The Press and Journal launched its Young Driver of the Year campaign to tackle the roads death toll by promoting advanced driving skills.
Mr Duff, who works in the council’s transportation and infrastructure department and is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), gave the campaign his full support.
He said: “Anything that encourages young drivers to go beyond the standard driving test will help. You don’t gain driving experience overnight, but anything which helps them gain the necessary skills a little bit quicker will be to everybody’s benefit.”
As well as investigating fatal road accidents, Mr Duff is responsible for identifying accident blackspots and introducing new measures which ultimately make our roads safer.
If a pattern of accidents begins to emerge at any one location, his team investigates to see whether anything can be done to help prevent further incidents.
Mr Duff said: “We look at the causes, whether the accidents happened in light or darkness, or at a certain time of the year, to try to find out if there is anything we can do which could prevent road accidents from continuing.
“Sometimes, we find there is no common factor, or there is nothing we can reasonably do without spending millions of pounds. But usually we can do something.
“If accidents continue, we will go back and look again to see either if what we have done is wrong or if we need to so something else in addition.”
Mr Duff said common measures included improving the road surface, either by roughening it up, entirely replacing it or, in extreme circumstances, applying a special anti-skid surface – which, although highly skid-resistant, is expensive.
In Aberdeenshire, Mr Duff said the majority of problem areas were identified at bends and junctions.
“Usually, the problem is that people go into the bend too fast and then realise what they have done,” he said.
“As soon as you brake on the bend you are in trouble.”
Quite often, introducing new road markings or marker posts can make all the difference, providing drivers with a good visual clue as to what lies ahead.
But occasionally, more major works are recommended as the only possible solution.
Replacing the notorious Carnie crossroads – the scene of an unusually high number of fatalities over the years – with a roundabout was one such major project put forward by Mr Duff.
Traffic islands had already been installed on the B979 back road from Westhill to Peterculter after it was found that most accidents occurred at its junction with the B9119 Garlogie road because people drove straight through, not realising it was a crossroads.
A further spate of accidents led Mr Duff to recommend that the best way to address the matter was to instal a roundabout – which, he said, had been a major piece of work at that time.
Aberdeenshire has also been at the forefront of many innovative road safety projects, being first in Scotland, or even the UK, to introduce schemes which have later been rolled out elsewhere.
It was the first local authority to introduce dragging street markings – the triangular markings you now see on the road going into most towns – which have been adopted across the UK.
Mr Duff, who came up with the idea, said the street markings, also known as crocodile jaws, proved so popular that towns had put in requests for them.
Aberdeenshire also introduced the first part-time speed limits outside schools, which have since been adopted as policy by the Scottish Government, and introduced the first interactive signs – which warn people they are driving into a speed-limit area and flash if they are still going too fast as they approach.
Mr Duff said these measures had been well received.
“A lot of speeding is inadvertent, not deliberate, so people do appreciate the warning.”
Mr Duff also has a role in the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (Scots) – which comprises all the local authorities and regional transport partnerships such as Nestrans and advises the Scottish Government on all aspects of transportation.
The organisation’s road safety and traffic management working group, of which he is secretary, helped bring about the 20s Plenty scheme and was also instrumental in introducing the part-time speed limits outside schools.
Mr Duff has also been involved in bringing the Safe Drive Stay Alive presentation to thousands of young people in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray in recent years.
More than 5,500 students learned about the possible consequences of irresponsible driving from those in the front line – police and medical staff, a man paralysed in a car crash and bereaved parents – during the most recent event at the Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, in November.
Karen Tremain, whose 16-year-old daughter, Michaela McRobb, was killed in a smash near her Westhill home in April, 2005, was among the participants, and she has also given the Press and Journal competition her full backing.
The presentation, organised by the Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership, is aimed at fifth years on the brink of learning to drive.
Mr Duff said that, in November, evening classes would also be run, giving those who had already left school the opportunity to catch it. For more information on these, contact Andy Duff on 01224 665285.
