Briefing: New developments in road safety management

The Portuguese Road Safety Authority wishes to position Portugal among the top ten countries of the European Union for road safety. This will be measured by the number of fatalities per million inhabitants, reducing this value by approximately 32% by 2015. To achieve this, several operational objectives and measures are required. These include the development of road safety management tools and the implementation of municipal road safety plans. This briefing outlines a road safety management system that incorporates a decision-aid tool, based on an optimisation model and accident prediction models, to help road administrations manage their road networks. This road safety management system could improve current practice in road safety management both in Portugal and in other countries.