DPWH tests road safety through ‘Multi-Surveyor vehicle”

MANILA, Philippines – In an effort to minimize road accidents, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be using a “Multi-Surveyor vehicle” that will take photos of roads, categorize their design features, and measure their “roughness.”

The vehicle is part of the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) that the DPWH launched Friday at the DPWH regional office in Quezon City to make the Philippines “free of high risk roads.”

ROAD TEST. The Multi-Surveyor vehicle takes photos of roads, categorizes their design features, and measures their “roughness” to minimize accidents. FATIMA REYES

Greg Smith, the iRAP regional director and head of the project, said the challenge would be “to convert high risk roads into safe system roads.”

The Multi-Surveyor vehicle is equipped with the latest digital technology and geo-referencing software which will be used in taking photos of the roads, categorizing the roads’ design features, and measuring the “roughness” of roads.

Smith said the information the vehicle would provide would be given to iRAP analysts who would give “iRAP star ratings” – a simple and objective measure of assessing the level of safety built in to the road for drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Five-star roads will be identified as the safest roads while one-star roads are the least safe.

The vehicle was tested initially along Commonwealth Avenue. It indicated that Commonwealth was “a one-star road that needed major reconstruction, especially for pedestrians.”

Smith said that the country must focus in assessing road designs, as this was an important factor in determining how road accidents occur.

He said that iRAP would train stakeholders to make sure that the country would have the capacity and capability to make it on its own.

“If we work together, we can eliminate high risk roads in every country,” he said.

The project, which carries the theme “Patungo sa Ligtas na Daan” and whose members are World Bank representative Chiyo Kanda and DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, is funded by the World Bank under its Global Road Safety Facility program.