A comparative analysis of dangerous locations on the public roads in Serbia

•Risk compensation is present on locations with the prevailing subjective risk.•Most of hazardous 1km sections have no locations identified by the subjective method.•Subjective method offers a wider list of dangerous locations.•Comparative analysis of subjective and objective methods offers attractive results. The proper identification of dangerous locations is one of the most significant phases of the Black Spot Management process. Identifying dangerous locations is a complex procedure, as they are not always located only in hazardous road sections. In fact, dangerous locations can be identified in safe sections (those having a low level of objective risk). This comparative analysis includes the results of two studies focusing on identifying hazardous road sections on the state roads in Serbia. The first study is based on field research and interviews of experts according to territorial principles (subjective method). The second study relies on analysis of data related to the history and spatial distribution of road accidents (objective method). The subject of this analysis is focused on results obtained in the analysis of the subjective and objective methods used for identifying dangerous locations. The objective of the comparative analysis is to identify differences between the results of the subjective and objective analyses, as well as to more precisely prioritize dangerous locations on Serbian roads. The comparative analysis has shown that sections with low risk according to the subjective method may include 1km sections with very high risks, which as a consequence, may lead to incorrect selection of dangerous locations. Additionally, there are sections with a small number of recorded road accidents and a very high subjective risk. Therefore, a reliable list of prioritized dangerous locations is obtained using both methods for identification of dangerous locations and the comparative analysis of their results.