1. ITS SUMMIT:IRF
ROAD INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
Gail Bester
8 March 2012

2. Table of Contents
• SANRAL background
• Strategies to improve Road Incident Management
• National Road IMS for South Africa
• International Lessons Learned
• IM and Freeway Management System(FMS) in Gauteng
• Conclusion

3. SANRAL background
• SANRAL is an Agency of the Ministry of Transport, operating
as an independent agency
• Derives its mandate from the SANRAL Act, No. 7 of 1998;
• Build ,Manage and maintain 16 170 km of national road
network, includes both toll and non-toll network;
• 81% non-toll roads and 19% toll;
• SANRAL mandated by National Transport Policy to implement
IMS on its network

5. National Road network
Description Non Toll State Toll BOT Total
Dual 610 520 443 1 573
Carriageway
4-Lane 11 299 240 550
Undivided
2-Lane 12 429 1013 605 14 047
Single
Total 13 050 1 832 1 288 16 170
% of SANRAL Network 81% 11% 8%

7. Incident Management
• Managing traffic incidents is a proven strategy for addressing
significant portions of traffic congestion.
• Traffic incident management programs have demonstrated
success in improving mobility, safety, efficiency, productivity,
energy and environment, and customer satisfaction.
• Traffic incident management programs make use of a variety
of ITS technologies to successfully detect, manage, and clear
traffic incidents

8. Strategies to Improve IM
Effective IM requires a toolbox of strategies:
• Political level
• Political support in the form of policy and top-level management support
for IM-focused objectives
• Institutional level
• The Institutional cooperation, understanding and collaboration need to be
in place for an effective programme
• Functional level
• The functional elements need to be implemented in the form of new
services and new processes
• Technological level
•Technology tools can support real-time monitoring and faster response to
freeway incidents

9. Political /Policy Level
• In July 1996, a National Incident Management Technical
Committee was established to prepare national guidelines and a
policy on the development, implementation and maintenance of
Incident Management in South Africa.
• IMS is still being implemented in a fragmented way throughout
South Africa, warranting a review.
• The DOT together with SANRAL were mandated to develop a
National Policy, Framework and Guidelines for IMS in the
country, involving all stakeholders.

10. Political /Policy Level cont…
• The documents will to ensure that the development of further RIMSs
take place in a consistent manner.
• Establishing a Governance Structure for Road Incident Management.
• RIMS National Technical Committee
• RIMS Provincial Coordinating Committee
• Developing Procedures and Protocols incorporated in a Guideline
Plan for operational application.
•
• Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement amongst all the
organizations/agencies regarding accepted procedures and
protocols to be followed in the event of any incident.

11. Political /Policy Level cont….
• National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No 93 of 1996) deals with
accidents and accident reports. The scope of this chapter was
extended to also cover Incident Management Systems through an
Act amendment by making an empowering provision and referring
to the IMS Policy as one of the schedules to the NRTA.
• The proposal is to add section 62A “ Response to road incident”.
62A In the event of a road incident, the emergency services
shall immediately respond to the incident and render all the
necessary services in compliance with the Incident Management
System Policy as shown in Schedule 5 and any applicable
legislation.

12. Political /Policy Level cont….
• Consultation will take place and it is envisaged that it will be
approved by the Minister of Transport end of March 2012.
• Road Shows at all provinces will start for 1 April 2012 to inform
all stakeholders of the content of the new material.

13. Example: Political /Policy
intervention
• In the U.S. 49 states implemented at least one of these laws –
only 24 have implemented all three.
• Quick Clearance – quickly removing any vehicles involved in an
incident from the scene to maintain mobility along the roadway
• Move It Over – the motorist is to move to another lane or slow
down when approaching responders/tow trucks/public safety
(police, fire) to provide a “safe zone”
• Remove it – motorists move vehicles out of the travel lanes
following a minor, non-injury incident – here is where information
is exchanged
• One of the biggest concerns is ensuring the public is aware of
the laws and what they mean.

15. Institutional level
• Inter-agency teams/intergovernmental agreements
• Cape Town co-located TMC
• Joint funding and cooperation agreements
• Agreement on processes and policies to overcome institutional
barriers:
• Common goals, common objectives
• Standardise practices,
• Awareness of partner roles
• Benefits are beyond any single role player

16. Functional level
• Provision of a 24/7 value add services in Gauteng to ensure
safe will be deployed at satellite centers strategically deployed
across the Freeway network in Gauteng
• Number of vehicle services deployed:
• 8 Heavy tow and recovery units ( Rigs)
• 10 Light Towing and recovery unit ( roll backs)
• 10 Incident Response Unit
• 10 Motorcycle Medic Response Units
• Services will be dispatched from the TMC for a quick response
time of between 12 and 15 minutes to each accident scene, in
normal traffic conditions.

17. Satellite
Centre
Coverage
Assumptions
12 mins at ave of
80km/h = 16km
Turnaround only
possible at next
interchange

18. Functional level
•Responsibilities include:
• Coordinate incident scene, Remove vehicles obstructing
traffic and vehicles, Provide basic and intermediate life
support to patients on scene, cleaning of minor debris
•Example: Netherlands
• Response time as a measure for towing contractors
• Staging tow trucks at high volume incident locations
• Incident auditors to track performance and adherence to
standards

19. Incident Response
(Tennessee DOT and
Illinois DOT)
• Tennessee DOT HELP vehicles
include cones, arrow boards,
and are powerful enough to
push or pull a commercial
vehicle out of a lane
TDOT HELP Vehicle Pulling a Commercial Vehicle
Note flip
up arrow c
board
IDOT Minutemen Heavy Wrecker Demonstration

20. Florida Road Rangers Flip Up Arrow
Board
• Road Ranger vehicles carry the following equipment:
• Reflective cones
• Flashing arrow board
• Flares
• 5 gallons of speedy dry
• Fire extinguishers
• Air compressor
• Booster cables
• 2-ton jacket
• Auto fluids
• Wood blocks
• Cell phone
• First aid kits
• Water

21. Technical level
• Technology to assist with IM
• Traveler information (VMS, websites, etc.)
• Responder communications (remote scene monitoring, prompt
dispatch, i.e Sweden has pioneered use of incident response
vehicles that have truck mounted VMS, a video camera to transmit
scene images to TMC, and also equipped with attenuators on the
back of the vehicle to help protect responders on-site)
• Incident investigations (CCTV, detectors, assistance patrols, etc.)
• Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) to support IM
• SMS
• Twitter
• Mobile Apps

22. Arrow Board
and Full Color
Sweden Matrix VMS
and flip down
attenuator

23. On Road Services
Dedicated freeway
enforcement unit
Services will be managed by the TMC
First Responders: utilizing:
Incident Response • Computer Aided dispatch (CAD) for
Service emergency and enforcement vehicles
Incident Recovery • Automated Vehicle Identification
Service
(AVI)
• Automated Vehicle Location (AVL)
To effectively manage roadway and
provide a safer and efficient network

24. Reported Benefits
• The most significant findings of traffic incident management programs ability
to reduce the duration of traffic incidents, most studies finding savings of 30
to 40 %..
• Service patrol in Hampton Roads, Virginia, decreased the average incident
duration by 70.7 percent
• Service patrol in Northern Virginia on average decreased incident duration
by 15.6 percent for crashes, 25 percent for roadway debris, and 17.2 percent
for breakdowns.
• A San Antonio, Texas deployment of VMS, combined with an incident
management program, resulted in a 2.8 % decrease in crashes.
• The Coordinated Highway Action Response Team in Maryland reduced
incident duration and related secondary incidents by 29%.
USDOT lessons learned 2011

25. Conclusion
• In an effort to support World Government initiative Decade of Action
(DoA) to reduce the effect of poor road safety.
• The amendment of legislation, drafting of a national framework, policy
and procedures manual is a welcomed intervention to embed the
ethos and principles of co-operation and teamwork when dealing with
incidents.
•The introduction of technology will assist in effectively managing our
road network. “ITS is more than just technology, it’s a culture” UNECE
(United Nations economic Commission for Europe)
•Action and smart interventions are needed to retain a vibrant transport
sector that can adjust to global trends, economic state and local
environment.

26. THANK YOU
besterg@nra.co.za