Assessment of the road safety of the main roads according to the level of severity of injure to road users

Abstract

The number of road fatalities in Lithuania has decreased significantly in the past decade, but the number of lightly injured road users is also very high. The European Union’s strategy aims to halve the number of fatalities and injuries by 2030. By signing the Valletta Declaration, Lithuania committed itself not only to prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists in infrastructure plans but also to improving road safety by developing more road infrastructure. Additionally, it agreed to classify road users who have suffered serious injuries in a road accident using the MAIS3+ injury classification. The study examined data on road accidents and victims collected by the Police and Hygiene Institute, and analyzed the severity of injuries and their distribution on main roads. The study analyzed accident data, identified their shortcomings to implement MAIS3+, provided recommendations for the development of safer road infrastructure, and proposed solutions that allow for an effective assessment of safety not only based on the number of fatalities, but also based on the number of serious injuries.