Cost analysis of road traffic accidents in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that the costs of fatalities in traffic are substantial. The social and economic losses resulting from traffic accidents in the Federation were calculated using the gross output method or methods of human capital - a recognized methodology that is used in many countries. These are the estimated costs of administration; medical expenses, property damage and lost output/productivity of the killed or injured, and they include compensations for pain, grief and suffering. Given the current gross domestic product (GDP) in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) (KM 14,161,972,692.00 in 2010), the total costs of road traffic accidents in the FB&H (823.80 million KM (421.00 million EUR)) represent an average of 5.8% to GDP in 2010.

The development and increase of the volume of rail traffic contributes also to increased risk of developing problems and negative effects on the rail network. These problems manifest themselves through emergencies, and according to the classification and the severity of consequences the worst are the emergencies at rail-road crossings. Because of their specificity and the collision point of rail and road traffic, the railroad crossings have the greatest potential risk for the occurrence of emergencies compared to the rest of the rail network. Therefore, the rail-road crossings should be treated in a special way, i.e. a harmonized and systematic approach to the responsible entities in the field of rail and road traffic with the appropriate methodological approach. This paper presents a proposal, i.e. an innovative methodological approach for the assessment of the safety of rail-road crossings.