The Applicability Analysis of “Technical Guide for Implementation of Highway Safety and Life Protection Engineering” in Risk Assessment of Mountainous Rural Roads

The technical guide for the implementation of highway safety life protection engineering (GHSLPE), China’s standard for implementing highway safety engineering, uses risk assessment to provide specifications for operation risk of mountainous rural roads and decides safety countermeasure priority. Based on experience with GHSLPE, we introduce GHSLPE’s application procedure and risk assessment models. Then, with traffic accident, road condition, and traffic volume data from typical mountainous rural roads, traffic accident risk (TAR), and traffic operation risk (TOA) are calculated; the difference between predicted TOA and post-TAR is compared based on actual conditions. GHSLPE applicability to risk assessment is then analyzed, and potential shortcomings of models in GHSLPE are discussed. Finally, the calibration framework of risk assessment models for rural roads is proposed, and key issues in the practice of highway safety engineering are summarized. Decision support could be referred for GHSLPE implementation and technical guide development according to local situations.