---
title: "BASt develops urban road safety assessment for built-up areas; risk level via multiplicative influence factors"
sdDatePublished: "2026-07-30T15:46:00Z"
source: "https://www.bast.de/EN/Publications/RS/2026/2026-11.html"
topics:
  - name: "road transport"
    identifier: "medtop:20000341"
  - name: "traffic"
    identifier: "medtop:20000342"
  - name: "civil engineering"
    identifier: "medtop:20000760"
  - name: "road accident and incident"
    identifier: "medtop:20000147"
locations:
  - "Germany"
---


BASt develops urban road safety assessment for built-up areas; risk level via multiplicative influence factors

Research Compact - Improving road safety in built-up areas from the planning stage onwards - BASt

Improving road safety in built-up areas from the planning stage onwards

If key figures on safety performance are available at the planning stage, road safety can be improved in advance. For roads outside urban areas (rural roads and motorways), the German "Handbuch für die Bewertung der Verkehrssicherheit von Straßen" (HVS) already provides an assessment procedure based on differentiated basic crash cost rates. However, no comparable procedure existed for urban areas. On behalf of the Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute (BASt), a new assessment procedure adapted to urban boundary conditions has now been developed. It was found that basic crash cost rates could not be reliably derived for urban areas due to the high complexity of urban road areas and data limitations. Instead, the new procedure determines a risk level through multiplicative linkage of influence factors. Integrating these new findings and methods into the planning process will serve quality assurance in road safety.

Proactive road safety assessment of main urban roads Reports of the Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute, book V 428, 2026