"I know I am showing my ignorance, but is there a surface movement equivalent of PANS-OPS or TERPS that is followed by those designing airfield layout?" (seems I've forgotten my v bulletin basics and can't properly create a quote box!)
Actually there is... Sort of. Part 139 approval of airports. Design standards and specifications for airports have been around for a long time. The problems associated with airport design and layout seem at least as complex as those applying to instrument procedure design too. And the costs associated with changing airport layout are staggering. LAX has spent Billions and Billions of $ over the last five decades on redesign and upgrades, seemingly always in in the midst one construction project or another. It will never be complete!
But even the most modern and well thought out airport design and layout will never be any guarantee against mishaps. From a pilot's perspective, whatever the layout of an airport you're taxiing on happens to be, you must know that mishaps can still happen. They just will. I figure part of my job is to do what I can to see to it that I'm not involved in any of them. I also count on ATC, other pilots, vehicle operators and other airport denizens to do their part too.
Even a huge new airport like DEN has taxiway and ramp rash incidents, though perhaps less so than MDW, EWR or numerous other airports originally designed in the DC-3 era. Airport operators may try to keep up, but space constraints and funding issues appear to limit their ability to do so effectively. It might be nice if every airport could be optimally designed and built, but it'll never be.
In the end, it comes down to ATC personnel and individual flightcrews being the last line of defense against mishaps. Just like always.