A lot is happening to introduce the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP)’s road safety star-rating method to governments. 3-Star Coalition partners in Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Zambia have had, or are about to have, meetings with high-level government officials to promote star-rating and upgrading high-risk roads.
The 3-Star Coalition is a group of organizations concerned about road safety. They have a particular focus on the construction of safer roads in developing countries, and encourage national and international policymakers to set a three star minimum safety rating for roads.
The star-rating system was developed by iRAP, the main global organization that assesses roads for safety. iRAP rates the safety of roads on a scale from one to five stars, considering the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists in addition to that of vehicle occupants. iRAP has found that each one-star improvement cuts deaths by about half.
Below are some highlights of recent efforts by Alliance members taking place around the world to promote a three- star minimum safety rating for roads.
In Botswana, Maatla Otsogile, Coordinator of Society of Road Safety Ambassadors, worked with iRAP to make a proposal to assess a high-risk road segment and train engineers in iRAP methods. This proposal has the support of the Permanent Secretary and government officials are working on getting buy-in from all stakeholders.
In Cote d’Ivoire, Massandje Kone, Executive Director of the Organisation des Jeunes Ivoiriens pour la Sécurité Routière, has scheduled a meeting with the head of road building and maintenance for the country to propose star-rating and upgrading a high-risk road.
Houssein Khast of AMPROUD in Morocco has just met with the Minister of Equipment and Transport, who was interested in the work.
Olamide Olawepo of Highway Safety Initiative in Nigeria recently met with Engr. Isaq Mohammed the Director of the country’s Road Sector Development Team. After she briefed him, he expressed interest in adopting star-rating on their road projects and requested a full presentation for his team.
Daniel Mwamba, head of Zambian Road Safety Trust, had a successful launch event on 5 May 2016 for his Road Safety Strategy 2020, featuring a speech by the Permanent Secretary of Transport. Daniel has been invited to a meeting with the Director of Planning in the Ministry of Transport, where he will talk about star-rating. The Road Transport and Safety Agency has previously shown interest in iRAP assessments, and Daniel intends to try to make that happen.
To learn more about the 3-Star Coalition, including how to join, visit http://www.fundforglobalhealth.org/join-the-3-star-coalition/.
