road safety

Star Ratings for Victoria’s Country Highways were first published in 2006 and expanded and updated in 2008. This page provides information about the star rating results for all of Victoria’s major country highways.

AusRAP Star Ratings involve an inspection of design elements such as lane and shoulder width and the presence of safety barriers, which are known to have an impact on the likelihood of a crash occurring and the severity of those crashes that do occur.

Specially equipped vehicles record digital images using an array of cameras which log safety features when travelling along the road at almost highway speeds. Highly trained analysts then undertake desktop inspections by taking a virtual drive-through of the road network. Various risks apply to each design element of the road. All of these are put together using mathematical formulas to form a Star Rating.

Between 1 and 5 stars are awarded to roads depending on the level of safety which is ‘built in’ to the road. The safest roads, (4 and 5 stars) are likely to be straight, have two lanes in each direction separated by a wide median, have good linemarking, wide lanes and sealed shoulders, safe roadsides and few, if any intersections with crossing traffic. The least safe roads (1 and 2 stars) are likely to have two way traffic with only one lane in each direction, lots of curves and intersections, narrow lanes, gravel shoulders, poor line marking and unprotected hazards such as trees, poles and steep embankments close to the side of the road.

These ratings are shown as a colour-coded map, indicating how many stars a section of road has achieved. Where lanes of traffic are separated by a median or safety barrier (a divided road), Star Ratings are calculated separately for both directions of travel.

2008

• Read the Star Ratings for Victoria's Country Highways 2008 report (PDF, 1.5MB)
• See the Star Ratings for Victoria's Country Highways 2008 map (PDF, 1.8MB)

2006

• Read the Star Ratings for Victoria’s Country Highways 2006 report (PDF, 874KB)
• See the Star Ratings for Victoria’s Country Highways 2006 map (PDF, 813KB)

further information