Roadside Environment Safety Amanda Delaney 1 ; Bruce Corben 1 (Presenter); Jim Langford 1 ; Stuart Newstead 1 ; Nisha Jacques 1 ; Peter Daly 2 1 Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University; 2 RACV Biography Bruce Corben, before commencing with the Monash University Accident Research Centre in 1993, spent 19 years working in the traffic management and traffic engineering safety fields at VicRoads and its predecessor organisations. During his ten years at MUARC, he has led numerous road safety research projects, specialising in safety of the road infrastructure, including issues associated with speed, roadside safety, pedestrian and motorcyclist safety, and engineering countermeasure development and evaluation. Abstract Fatal and serious injuries resulting from vehicle collisions with fixed roadside hazards make up, arguably, the single largest component of all road trauma in Victoria. Some three to four of every ten deaths and serious injuries on Victorian roads, and up to five out of every ten deaths and serious injuries in rural areas, are the result of collisions with roadside hazards. This paper outlines a study that examined the nature and extent of the crash problem and the need for a new approach to roadside safety. Analysis of Victorian crash data from 1996 to 2000 is used to define the nature and extent of the problem of fixed-object crashes. Crash frequency and severity, and road user and environmental factors that are over-represented in them are identified. Having regard to these crash characteristics, liability and accountability issues are examined. In particular, the recent elimination of the nonfeasance defence is discussed in the context of increasing the incentive for responsible authorities to improve roadside safety. Finally, world’s best practice in roadside safety is examined and the effectiveness of the current design guidelines is questioned. It appears the current design guidelines have failed in substantially reducing the frequency or severity of collisions with fixed roadside objects. The clear zone concept is questioned as an effective means of preventing serious injuries in run-off- the-road crashes, especially along high-speed, high-volume routes. The existing guidelines of 15m median width and 9m far boundary clear zone appear insufficient to reduce impact speeds enough to improve crash and injury outcomes. It is argued that a fundamental review of the road design and system operation standards that determine the inherent level of safety of roadsides is required, followed by the development of new, safer standards. 1. INTRODUCTION Fatal and serious injuries resulting from vehicle collisions with fixed roadside hazards make up, arguably, the single largest component of all road trauma in Victoria, with up to five out of every ten deaths or serious injuries occurring in this way on Victorian rural roads. This paper outlines a study (Delaney et al., 2002) that examined the issues surrounding fixed object collisions from a number of perspectives and consolidates information on the problem, its possible solutions and state-of-the-art approaches that have been taken both nationally and internationally to address roadside safety concerns. In particular, the nature and extent of the fixed-object crash problem