The European Commission has been working on proposals to update its 10 year old regulations on Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) and ECF has been pushing hard to make sure cyclists get a look in. Next week the TRAN Committee of the European Parliament will be considering the issue, so it is a pertinent time to take a look at what ECF thinks should be done.

Last May ECF had some success! The commission published a proposal with several key improvements (our article here), but that was not the end of the story, as whilst the new proposal would mean that the needs of cyclists (as well as pedestrians and motorcyclists) must be taken into account in implementation of road safety procedures, it does not say HOW this is to be done. We need to know exactly how cyclists will be ‘taken into account’ when member states come to building infrastructure, lest this phrase have much less impact than it would immediately suggest.

Unfortunately, many existing projects clearly demonstrate a lack of necessary knowledge about cycling infrastructure among many Member States. The ECF therefore wants the legislation to go further and solve this conundrum, by including minimum quality criteria for cycling infrastructure, obligatory for all roads falling under the scope of the directive.

This cycling path was built as a part of a road reconstruction project and underwent a Road Safety Audit, yet still is not safe to use because of lack of visibility on the crossing.

Information and data is the other topic that could do with further improvement in the proposal. Notably it is important that data is collected not just about cycle traffic along roads, but also about when cycle traffic crosses them, and whether when projects are constructed with no bicycle facilities there are alternative routes available for cyclists.

17300 cyclists/day cross a 1.5-km section of road in Antwerp (Blue). These cyclists will not be accounted for in member state analysis and statistics if the proposed text of the RISM directive goes ahead without changes.

The proposal should also be accompanied by significant changes in training and certification of road safety auditors. The previous practical implementation of the RISM directive was focused on preventing accidents on motorways and high-speed roads, yet different expertise is needed when assessing cycling infrastructure. This is especially pertinent as one of the most positive ways the directive goes further than its predecessor is by expanding the scope of the directive to cover all motorways, primary roads and EU-funded rural roads. Unsurprisingly the latter two categories will pose a highly different set of risks to vulnerable road users than your average four lane motorway! If the EU can go just one step more, the new RISM directive could be worthy of the 10 years of learning and advancement since its predecessor.

For a detailed comparison of current legislation, the European Commission’s proposal and ECF’s suggested improvements, check the ECF Position Paper on the Proposed Directive On Road Infrastructure Safety Management. On Wednesday, 21 November 2018, the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament will consider various amendments to the European Commission’s proposal (draft report, other amendments), including the improvements proposed by ECF.