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A New Zealand guide to the treatment of crash locations

This guide provides procedures for the treatment of traffic crash locations in New Zealand. It outlines practices and policies specific to New Zealand and forms a companion document to Austroads Guide to traffic engineering practice.

Print version: Definitions [PDF, 73 KB]

Definitions

Accident
See ‘crash’.

Austroads Pt 4
Austroads Guide to traffic engineering practice. Part 4. Treatment of crash locations (2003).

BCR
Benefit cost ratio.

Black spot
Now replaced by the term ‘crash location’ or ‘crash cluster’.

CAS
Crash analysis system. This is a database containing all the Police traffic crash reports (TCRs) received by Land Transport NZ together with crash analysis software and basic road data.

CBD
Central business district of a city or town.

Crash
A crash is a rare, random, multifactor event preceded by a situation in which one or more persons failed to cope with their environment. The term ‘accident’ is sometimes still used and these terms are interchangeable.

Crash cluster
A number of crashes at one location that may be of the same or related crash type.

Crash location
A location where a limited range of crash types occurs repeatedly, suggesting that there are common causes, rather than the crashes being the result of mere chance. A location can be a crash site, a route or an area.

Crash severity
The most severely injured casualty occurring as a result of a crash.
Fatal: A death occurring as the result of injuries sustained in a road crash within 30 days of the crash.
Serious: Injury (fracture, concussion, severe cuts or other injury) requiring medical treatment or removal to and retention in hospital.
Minor: Injury which is not ‘serious’ but requires first aid, or which causes discomfort or pain to the person injured.
Non-injury: Property damage only (PDO).

Crash site
A ‘crash cluster’ where a limited range of crash types occur repeatedly, suggesting that there are common causes, rather than the crashes being the result of mere chance. A type of ‘crash location’.

CRS
Crash reduction study. A systematic process where crash clusters and known crash locations are analysed and investigated, and treatments are recommended to reduce the future incidence or severity of similar crashes. It includes the collection of site data for entering into the CRS monitoring system and the evaluation crash reductions as a result of the implementation of the recommended treatments.

COPTTM
Code of practice for temporary traffic management. A temporary traffic management manual produced by Transit New Zealand.

Factor codes
Standard numeric codes used to abbreviate and describe factors that may have contributed to a crash.

Factor grid
A list of crashes at a crash location in tabular form showing particular factors, eg wet road, darkness, speed etc, which may have contributed to each crash. A factor grid is used to identify factors that are common to several crashes.

FE
Feasibility estimate.

Land Transport NZ
Land Transport New Zealand. A Crown entity formed by the merger of the Land Transport Safety Authority and Transfund New Zealand on 1 December 2004.

LTCCP
Long term council community plan

LTSA
Land Transport Safety Authority. A former Crown entity which became part of Land Transport New Zealand on 1 December 2004.

Monitoring system
A Land Transport NZ system (part of CAS) for monitoring the effectiveness of CRSs.

Movement codes
Standard alphabetic codes used to abbreviate and describe the movement of vehicle(s) and pedestrians involved in a crash before impact or leaving the roadway.

New Zealand Road Safety Programme
Also called the Safety Administration Programme (SAP). This is a government funded programme of road safety enforcement (by the Police), safety information and CRS (by Land Transport NZ) and the Community Road Safety Programme (by local authorities).

OE
Option estimate.

PAC
Preliminary assessed cost.

PDO
Property damage only crash: same as ‘non-injury’.

PEM
Project evaluation manual. A Land Transport NZ document for the economic evaluation of roading projects.

PFM
Project funding manual. A Land Transport NZ document that sets out criteria for the funding of projects.

PV
Present value.

RCA
Road controlling authority. Typically territorial local authorities or Transit New Zealand, but may include forestry or electricity corporations, and airport authorities.

ROC
Rough order cost.

RSEW
Road safety engineering workshop.

RSIR
Road safety issues report. Summary report prepared for RCAs focusing on the top road safety issues.

RSR
Road safety reports. Detailed crash statistics report prepared for RCAs.

Rural
Roads or areas with a posted speed limit greater than 70 km/h.

SAP
See above ‘New Zealand Road Safety Programme’.

SMS
Safety management system. A method of managing the roads of an RCA to improve their safety by documenting road safety strategies, policies, standards, procedures, staff expertise, management and audit systems so that road safety becomes an integral part of the management system for that road network.

TCR
Traffic crash report. A report on a standard form (usually completed by the Police) containing details of a crash involving one or more vehicles, located in an area to which the public have access.

TLA
Territorial local authority.

TMP
Traffic management plan: a documentdescribing the design, implementation, maintenance and removal of an activity being carried out on the carriageway, or within a road reserve, or on a footpath or adjacent to and affecting the road reserve, and how road users will be managed by traffic management measures. This plan is of particular relevance in this document for field inspections.

Transit
Transit New Zealand.

Transfund
Transfund New Zealand. A former Crown entity which became part of Land Transport New Zealand on 1 December 2004.

Urban
Streets or areas with a posted speed limit less than or equal to 70 km/h.

VMC
Vehicle movement coding sheet.

Refer to Austroads Pt 4, section 1.4 for further definitions.

Page updated: 27 July 2005