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The International Road Federation has released a set of minimum qualification guidelines for professionals conducting road safety audits and inspections as part of a global road safety gathering held in Brasilia. Design standards alone don’t guarantee road safety in all conditions, said IRF executive vice president Michael Dreznes, speaking at the Global High Level Conference on Road Safety held in the Brazilian federal capital of Brasilia.

Ford has developed a special suit that simulates the effects of being under the influence of drugs for a driver. The novel Drug Driving Suit is intended to show drivers the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin Research shows that drivers are up to 30 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash after taking illegal drugs; the suit simulates effects that can include slowed reaction, distorted vision, and hand tremors.

Two major road projects are planned for Poland. Spanish construction firm Dragados intends to start work building a 25km ring road around the Polish city of Radom in the second half of 2016. The road will cost over €171.67 million to construct and will be completed in 2018. The work includes building four bridges, four junctions and two pedestrian bridges. The new ring road will form a part of the S7 road and reduce journey time between Krakow, Kielce and Warsaw.

The Thailand Government aims to review plans for a series of PPP infrastructure projects in the first half of 2016. Should the projects get the go ahead, bidding processes would then commence in the second half of 2016. The planned PPP projects include the construction of two major highways. The highways are planned to connect Nonthaburi's Bang Yai district with Kanchanaburi as well as Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district with Nakhon Ratchasima.

Changes in the number of road crashes as well as casualty statistics have been observed in Italy and the Netherlands. For Italy, the long term trend is positive, although this may have been influenced by recession. Data reveals that commercial vehicle traffic fell by 11.2% on Italian highways between 2006 and the first half of 2015. This analysis was carried out by Continental Autocarro based on data provided by AISCAT. In the same period, the number of crashes occurred on highways and involving commercial

Plans are in hand in South East Asia for an improved road link connecting Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. A loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) worth US$100 million will help fund the work for the 66.4km section running between Kawkareik and Eindu in Myanmar. The highway will run for some 1,450km in all. The road will be called the East-West Economic Corridor and is of key importance to open up trade and transport between these nations. Talks for this project are underway at present.

A key road link is opening in in Costa Rica. The country's Ministry of Public Works and Transports (MOPT) says that a stretch of the widened Canas-Liberia road will open in December 2015. The project is now running ahead of schedule according to the MOPT and the new road link will help cut journey times and boost tourism in Guanacaste province during the summer season. MOPT guaranteed that the road would be 100% completed in January 2016. Of the 36 bridges included in the project, 35 are complete. Only the

Research from Algeria shows that its high rate of road crashes is having a damaging effect for its economy, as well as ruining lives. The data comes from the Algerian insurance and reinsurance union UAR. Its study shows that road crashes cost the country’s economy US$926.78 million/year. In all, there were 1 million crashes on roads in 2014, with drivers being at fault in 90% of cases. Insurance companies spent $415.2 million in compensations in 2014, up 10% from 2013. With the 30% depreciation of the Alger

A new book by US domestic policy expert James P Pinkerton reveals that investing in transportation infrastructure will build America’s economic strength. In A Vision of American Strength: How Transportation Infrastructure Built the United States, Pinkerton observes that “the history of civilisation is the history of infrastructure.” He explains how societies have flourished as they developed better roads and other transportation systems. Pinkerton details how transport infrastructure fuelled the growth of

A new publication from the World Road Association will help boost road safety worldwide. The PIARC/World Road Association Road Safety Manual is authored by ARRB and was unveiled at the recent World Road Congress held in South Korea. This second edition of the Road Safety Manual is the outcome of a project undertaken by the World Road Association (PIARC) as a contribution to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. It is intended to help all countries building capacity for managing road safety. A

The Brazilian Government has identified around 10,000km of new highway concessions. This programme will be achieved through a new road maintenance scheme called Programa Nacional de Manutencao de Rodovias (PNMR). The scheme will seek the replacement of existing road maintenance contracts with PPP or other concession arrangements in five years. Brazil has around 9,900km of privatised roads at the moment. Including blocks part of the PIL scheme, this figure stands at 17,000kms. The main aim of the PNMR plan w

A loan from the World Bank (WB) will help fund repair work to a key road link in Bolivia. The US$225 million loan will be used to improve roads in Bolivia, with the most important project being for the repair and upgrade of the link connecting Trinidad with Santa Cruz. The funds will help pay for improvements to a 567km stretch of this road, which will be resurfaced and improved. The work is expected to cost around $215 million to complete

Brazil’s road death rate could be reduced with safer vehicles. This has been highlighted by a new research report from the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The report has revealed that 34,000 Brazilian lives could be saved and 350,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030, if UN vehicle safety regulations were adopted and car manufacturers sought to achieve higher ratings in the Latin NCAP crash test programme.