Road safety- its importance & problems
Extracts from a paper presented by

Mobility is the very essence of our right of freedom. It is the very basic fiber of our fast developing modern society. Without mobility the progress in our community is stifled. While mobility is one of the basic ingredients of interaction in our society, it is also our nemesis. We are required to pay a price in terms of personal and property damage arising from the repercussions of mobility due to accidents. It may seem a pessimistic view to assume that accidents resulting from mobility are inevitable but realistically, this is true.

As long as people choose to operate their vehicles of mobility, Murphy’s Law will prevail: when things go wrong, they will. Only complete automation may eliminate accidents but people build and operate automation systems!

In the low-income countries in Asia the average vehicle ownership ranges as high as 63 persons per vehicle in Sri Lanka to as low as 250 in India, in middle-income countries this ranges from about 10 in Malaysia to 124 in the Philippines; and in high-income countries this is as high as 1 .3 persons per vehicle in Japan to 18 in Hong Kong In comparison, in the US almost everyone has a vehicle. In Pakistan the average is 180 persons for every vehicle.

What does motorization mean? In our country this unfortunately, means ever~ increasing rates of road accidents. The total number of road accidents in developing countries is as high as 20 times greater than Western Europe or North America.

Highway safety is a social problem as its effects on society is very profound. In 1997 there were 2,244 reported accidents in Sindh in which 1,371 persons were killed while 2,282 persons were injured. The rate of accident is therefore, 20.3 per 10,000 vehicles. Against this scenario there are about 7,000 fatalities each year in Pakistan. Studies conducted by TRRL indicate that there are about 3.3 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in the UK / USA as against 33 persons in Pakistan (20.3 for Karachi as mentioned above). The rate of accidents for Nigeria and Ethiopia are however, as high as 200 persons per 10,000 vehicles.

For as long as we have humans at the controls of transport vehicles there will be accidents; however, to accept this phenomenon as inevitable and not attempt to correct it, it would be against the laws of human nature. The inherent ambitions of man motivates him to develop more efficient means of transportation on the one hand, on the other, this compulsion pushes him to work and devise methods of reducing the probability and severity of accidents. No, we will never be able to eliminate accidents through technological advancements.

If traffic safety is a social problem like a disease, then why do we not attack it as we attack polio, smallpox and other illnesses and eliminate the nemesis? We have done this to some extent; but somehow, traffic accidents are more “accepted” than most diseases. In an epidemic people relate very closely to the disease because of the high probability of contracting it but traffic accident always “happens to the other guy”. Through simple calculations related to the average rate of accidents we have determined the requirements. The designer must evaluate trade-off and make decisions as to which alternatives are the most utilitarian within the constraints imposed by administration policy and the basic plan established by the planner. The safety of the facilities depend to a great degree on how well the designer utilizes existing technology and how high a priority he gives to safety criteria.

Construction - The construction of the highway is the implementation of the planning and design decisions. It is important that construction carries out the intent of the planning and design process as nearly as possible, particularly in areas that relate to operational efficiency and safety. There should be minimal changes and these should be made to effect greater safety and operational efficiency rather than to sacrifice it for the benefit of other aspects.

On many occasions the construction agency has the responsibility for operating traffic concurrently with the reconstruction of a facility. The manner in which detours are designed and operated determines to a great degree the level of safety that will be achieved. It is necessary that the construction agencies observe as closely as possible the international safety criteria already established. They should also consult those responsible for traffic operations and be guided by their suggestions. Too frequently such detours are thought of in terms of temporary situations. In extensive construction jobs these should be viewed more as permanent arrangements as they car last for a long time.

Operations — Traffic operations or traffic engineering is the implementation of the planning and the design process. It can be viewed as the regulation of the use of a facility. The driver information and traffic control system must ensure that the safety benefits designed into the facility are achieved. Conversely, traffic control and information system designed by the operation engineer cannot correct planning and design deficiencies.

At best the effects of a bad condition can only be minimized. To correct these deficiencies requires traffic operations input during the planning and design stage.

Maintenance — Safety should be a primary objective in all maintenance. Changing the basic design should not be undertaken without consulting the designer regarding changes and obtain his concurrence. Also roadside appurtenances, which must be maintained frequently due to collision damage, should be brought to the attention of appropriate personnel to determine if a redesign would eliminate the maintenance problem and at the same time improve the safety of the system.

Enforcement — Enforcement should have as its basic objective the safety of the motoring public. Enforcing the regulations in accordance with operational intent of the regulation is most important. Also in accident investigation the officer’s responsibility is to first obtain care for the injured and then to clear the roadway in order to protect the remainder of the motoring public. After this the accident investigation should be processed. Enforcement agencies should encourage motorists never to leave their damaged vehicles in the roadway if they can be removed safely.

Furthermore, enforcement personnel can greatly add to the safety improvement by identifying trouble spots. Problems in interpreting and negotiating difficult roadway geometry frequently are first detected by enforcement. Many of these problem areas can be located and corrected before major accidents occur.

back    |    top