A European Union (EU) research project has developed groundbreaking software to test roads, street furniture and natural obstacles for accident risks.

The €1.9 million Roadside Infrastructure for Safer European Roads’ (RISER) project created the computer programme after analysing crash data from around the world, drawing lessons on the risks posed by road cambers, bends, signs, bollards and trees.

A review of the data, which focused especially on single vehicle collisions on rural roads, has identified a series of key hazards.

The resulting software has been designed to help highways authorities “design and operate safer roadside infrastructures”.

In particular, it creates accident simulations, helping road safety experts assess the best design and location for roads and street furniture, and help the drafting of better design guidelines for such infrastructure.

A RISER project note stressed: “The economic and social costs of road accidents is more than 160 billion euros, representing 2% of GDP. Europe simply cannot afford to continue paying the costs in human life.”