Road traffic safety

Road safety is safety in using roads. Most years, traffic collisions kill about a million people worldwide. There are ways to make this less common, so roads will be safer for motor traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. It involves rules such as speed limits and those about drinking and driving, and control systems such as traffic lights and crossings. These are used to increase safety and reduce the chance of accidents.

Road Traffic Safety Media

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  Sidewalks, curbs and traffic signals in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States

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  Speed limits in different areas; here unusually with only a "recommended" limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 km/h on the Autobahn in Germany

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  DRIP variable message sign guiding traffic on the Dutch A13 motorway

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  Sacrifices to the Modern Moloch, a 1923 cartoon published in St. Louis Star, criticizing the apparent acceptance by society of increasing automobile-related fatalities

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  Guardrails save a vehicle from a long fall c. 1920. Guard rails were only sometimes effective at the time. It was not until the 1960s that safety testing ensured adequate protection, and even then only for vehicles of a limited weight-class.

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  Pedestrian crossing, line markings and street furniture

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  A curb extension at a mid-block crosswalk

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  A traffic circle applied to a four-way intersection as a means of improving its safety. This device, with a proven record of collision reductions and traffic flow improvement, turns the cross-intersection into four virtual three-way intersections.