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Centre for Road Safety

  1. NSW Centre for Road Safety
  2. Staying safe
  3. Safe roads

Safe roads

Engineering safer journeys

Safe roads are one of the four elements of the Safe System approach that aims to achieve the ultimate goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on NSW roads.

Human error is a factor in many crashes and the impact of mistakes can be minimised with safer road design and by installing a range of safety treatments.

Treatments such as flexible barriers, wide centre lines and audio-tactile line markings help reduce the risk and severity of crashes.

Safer Roads Program

The Safer Roads Program is a road safety infrastructure treatment program that delivers sustainable and long-term reductions in road trauma through upgrades of the existing road network.

The program is a partnership between key Transport for NSW divisions and also works with local councils to install a range of safety treatments on existing roads across NSW. Across five years to 2022/23, $822 million will be invested in the Safer Roads Program. In 2020/21 the program will carry out 203 road safety infrastructure projects across NSW to the value of $258 million.

The Safer Roads Program is supporting the delivery of life saving road safety treatments through two initiatives:

  1. Saving Lives on Country Roads:  Addresses two key contributors to road fatalities and serious injuries on country roads: high risk curves and fatigue.
  2. Liveable and Safe Urban Communities: Improves the safety of people in urban areas, through infrastructure safety upgrades for pedestrians and bicycle riders, and by specifically addressing serious injury crashes in urban areas.

Safer Roads Program projects

Project locations and details are available in the Safer Roads Program Projects 2022-23 (PDF, 187KB).

 

Route Safety Review: Sturt Highway

In September 2018, Transport for NSW initiated a Route Safety Review for the high-speed sections of the Sturt Highway between the Hume Highway and Mildura.

The review examined a wide range of data including vehicle volumes and speed, crash risk, crash statistics and road user behaviour. All four pillars of the Safe System were considered.

The review formed the basis of a successful 2020/21 Safer Roads Program funding application to deliver route-based, mass action road safety engineering treatments for the high-speed lengths of the Sturt Highway. The $27.5 million program of works is expected to prevent 210 fatal and serious injuries over the project life.

Australian Government Black Spot program

The Australian Government Infrastructure Investment Program targets and improves black spots – sections of the road network that have a high crash incidence – with road treatments to reduce the types of crashes that are common in these locations.

Speed Management Program

To improve safety and reliable mobility on NSW roads, we identify priority routes for speed zone reviews and develop policies and guidelines. Our speed management database supports our work across state, regional and local roads.

The database also provides speed zone updates that feed into our Speed Adviser app, which gives customers accurate speed zone information and warnings across the NSW road network.

On the Safer Roads NSW website, you can have your say on where you think speed cameras should be installed. You can also tell us if you think there are issues with speed limits and speed limit signs.