lay bys and protection against lateral obstacles - situation in different countries

Those involved in road tunnel safety remember the tragic accident that happened on 13th March 2012 in the Sierre Tunnel in the Swiss canton of Valais. On that day a coach taking school children and accompanying adults back to Belgium after a skiing holiday crashed into the side of the tunnel. 28 of the 52 people on the coach were killed, including 22 children. It was pure chance that the "Road Tunnels Operations" Technical Committee 3.3 (TC3.3) of the World Road Association (PIARC) held a meeting the very next day, launching its 2011-2015 work cycle. The PIARC TC 3.3 representatives of the various countries concerned by the matter seized the opportunity of this meeting to start discussions on this topic. CETU workshop on obstacles and lay-bys (2nd October 2013) Further to these discussions, CETU organised a workshop on lay-bys and obstacles in tunnels on the 2nd October 2013. The various countries who participated in this workshop were: Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Slovenia and Norway. This paper intends to give a brief overview of the situation in each of these countries based on the structure mentioned below: Brief overview of the situation, Feedback regarding accidents in lay-bys or with lateral obstacles, Information regarding studies performed, Other relevant information. The Situation in Switzerland was also presented to the participants. However, due to the ongoing investigations on the accident in the Sierre Tunnel by the public prosecutor, this information must not be published yet. The paper also summarizes the main discussions during the tunnel safety committee meeting in Brussels (24th October 2014) and the main lessons learnt from the various countries involved in this initiative. PIARC recommendation regarding the approach to take into account the "Road Safety" Directive in the context of road tunnels: The paper also highlights the main points of the PIARC recommendation prepared in this context with the objectives of taking into account the "Road Safety" Directive in the context of road tunnels (see appendix A).