Theoretical Framework
Road Safety
A basic problem in dealing with road safety in developing countries is that not much is known about the accident characteristics and the impacts of road safety measures. The important steps in road accident investigations are identification of the factors contributing to accidents, reporting and collection procedure of accident data, nature of accident problems and prescription of effective counter measures. In this chapter the road traffic system, accident classifications, accident factors, different aspect of traffic accident, major aspect and practice in developed and developing countries, review of local research works, possible accident and remedies are highlighted.
Road Traffic Accident
Road traffic accident is common issue for both developed and developing countries. But at present many researches try to define the different issues, which are related with the accidents. Some of these issues are:
The Road Traffic System
The road traffic system is comprised of three components, the human, the vehicle and the road. Accidents, which may be thought of as breakdown in the system, likewise have three components: (Haque, 2003)
| Before Crash | In Crash | After Crash | |
| Human | Training, Education, on Behavior, Attitudes, Conspicuous cloth on pedestrian & cyclist, etc | In vehicle restrains fitted and worn | Emergency Medical Service |
| Vehicle | Primary Safety (e.g. Braking, Visibility, etc)Speed Exposure | Secondary Safety(e.g. impact protection) | Salvage |
| Road | Delineation Road Geometry Surface Condition Visibility | Road Safety (e.g. no hazardous location0 | Restoration of road and traffic device |
Haddon matrix
Source: (Jacobs, 2000)
Second factors is which contribute to a crash, do not necessarily point in the direction of cost effective countermeasure, such as, vehicle related factors. From a traffic engineering viewpoint, the important point to note from the above that since the drive the key, the human factor must be considered for the effective user of traffic engineering application and countermeasure (Jacobs, 1997).
Accident Classification
One of the fundamental tools in accident analysis is to sub-divided accident into a variety of classes. In broad perspective, this sub-divided often helps in developing appropriate accident counter measures for reducing either the occurrence of particular events (e.g. head on collision) or the severity in particular accident types, because when a relatively few sites account for large proportion of the crashes, improvements at these sites can give big overall reduction in crashes (Haque, 1997).
The road traffic accident can be classified in such way
· Head-on collision;
· Rear-end collisions;
· Side collisions;
· Rollovers;
· Single-vehicle collisions;
· Multi vehicle collisions; and
· Level crossing accident.
Accident Sub-division
Traffic accidents are traditionally classified by severity of accident i.e. fatal, grievous injury, and simple injury and property damage only. Secondary classification of accident are categorized by location, such as rural or urban and intersection or link.
Accident Types
The international practice of document accident types in the context of accident studies identified and discussed widely. There is a number of accident type system uses in around the world, they differ only by the extent to which they are categorized and the lack of definitions for the type’s used. The principle behind the determination of accident types is the accident event. This “Event” is related to collision and on or off road carriageways. In essence, it is the same concept at used in the traditional collision diagrams (Jahan, 2006).
Accident Factors
Road, vehicles, driver and law and administration are the four basic component of the road transport system. Therefore, a road accident can not be attributing to a single cause but a combination of several contribution factors. These factors include:
Human Factors;
· Vehicle Factors;
· Environmental Factors Road and Roadside Factors; and
· Enforcement and Education Factors (Samad, 2003).
Human Factors
The road user responsible for the accident may be:
· The driver of one or more vehicles involved;
· The pedestrians;
· The Passengers.
The contribution of the road users in the road traffic crashes are discussed in the following paragraphs:
Drivers
Driver is one of the main road user elements to cause an accident. So the driver’s fitness is one of the major factors for save driving. Excessive speed and rush driving, carelessness, violation of rules and regulations, failure see or understand traffic situation and road sign and signals, temporary effects due to fatigue, sleep or alcohol and physical or mental condition of the drivers are responsible for creating an accident. The factors associated with drivers to cause an accident, are given bellow:
· Inefficient and indiscipline driving;
· High speed temptation;
· Overtaking;
· Overloading.
Pedestrians
Pedestrian’s lack of knowledge regarding road use, traffic rules and regulations, violation of regulation and careless in using the carriageway are the main reason of the high incidence of pedestrian casualty. Inadequate pedestrian facilities can also lead to pedestrian accident. Pedestrian facilities include physical features such as sidewalks, special; pedestrian barriers, pedestrian refuge islands, pedestrian tunnels and overpass.
Passenger
The behavior of passengers in the vehicles is sometimes responsible for creating an accident. Passenger’s characteristics, which may be responsible for accidents, are;
· Causing trouble with the driver;
· Making noise, joking and diverting the attention of the driver;
· Projection their body outside the vehicle;
· Getting into down of the moving vehicles from the wrong side (Jahan, 2006).
Vehicular Factors
The condition and characteristics of vehicles may be responsible for causing the road accident. Following conditions can be recognized as the vehicular factors for the causation of accident:
· Failure of breaks, defects in steering system, lighting system and signaling device, tire burst and deviation from specifications of the vehicle, such as laden weight, over hang, length and width may cause accident;
· The presence of vehicles of varying speeds and conflicts, and thereby may produce accident;
· Overloading goods and passenger vehicles is another vehicular factor, which commonly contribute to high accident;
· In Bangladesh the motorized vehicles play a major role in road transport. Rickshaw van, pushcart etc. without lights can cause severe injuries to passengers (Jahan, 2006).
Environmental Factors
Environmental conditions, which affect the road safety, are weather condition, which the traffic stream and its characteristics e.g. mixed traffic, composition, speed, etc. Unfavorable weather condition like mist, fog snow, smokes or heavy rainfall restrict normal visibility and render driving unsafe. Moreover the road surface may become slippery and because skidding of vehicle, which can contributes to large number of accidents (Jahan, 2006).
Road and Road Side Factors
The width, surface condition, geometric standards of the roads markedly affects traffic accidents. Slippery or skidding road surface, potholes, ruts and other damaged condition of the road surface may cause an accident particularly at high speed of movement. Defective geometric design like inadequate site distance, inadequate width of roads and shoulders, unspecified speed breakers, curve design, improper lighting and improper traffic control devices are also responsible for traffic accident.
Lighting Support
Adequate lighting of highways and streets has long been acknowledged as a necessity to provide vehicles drivers with needed visibility. This is being accomplished by the use of headlights and road side luminaries. It is requirement that luminaries support must be located no closer than 30 ft from the edge of the road way. But in the developing countries the concept of the luminary support is not very popular, especially in Bangladesh there is no provision for luminary supports to provide needed visibility to the vehicles drivers.
Utility Pole
Death trap installation of utility poles like electric pole, telegraph pole, is along the road way, roads and streets annually take a tragic toll of lives. These utility poles are normally 10-12 inch in diameter at the base is located in most cases within several feet of the traveled way, a most tragic roadside (Jahan, 2006).
· Road Sign Support and Categories, Description and Uses
· General Design of a Traffic Sign: In Context of Bangladesh
· Design details for each traffic sign are set out in the Traffic Signs Manual published by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
In Bangladesh according to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority there are six categories of traffic signs.
· Route Signs;
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Regulatory Signs
Regulatory Signs inform the road users of traffic laws and regulations which it is an offence to disregard. In some states and territories certain devices such as speed limit signs and parking control signs when used in certain prescribed situations require special approvals, generally from the central authority, for their installation, alteration and removal.
Warning Signs
Warning signs are used to warn road users of potential, hazardous conditions on or adjacent to the road. They subdivided into the following classes.
1. Alignment Series
2. Intersection and Junction Series;
3. Width and Obstacle Series;
4. Road Obstacle Series;
5. Pedestrian and School Series;
6. Railway Crossing Series; and
7. Auxiliary Series.
8. Information and Guide Signs.
These signs inform and advise the road users about the directions and distances to the destinations in the road systems, inform them of services and features of interest among the road, and give instructions although not regulatory should be obeyed.
Temporary Signs
These signs are used as temporary warnings of hazards created by road works and emergency situations.
Different Other Sign and Symbol use in Bangladesh
Stop
The stop sign, a red octagon with white lettering, means come to a full stop and be sure the way is clear before proceeding.
Pedestrian crossing
Signs shall be triangular in shape with a black symbol of a pedestrian on a white background with a red border.
Warning
Warning signs are diamond shaped and are yellow or orange with black letters or symbols. They warn of dangerous or unusual conditions ahead, such as a curve, turn, dip or side road.
You must not turn your vehicle around in the roadway to travel in the opposite direction (no U-turn)
Hazard Markers
Hazard close to the edge of the road the downward lines show the side on which you may safely pass
These sign are important to install at neighborhood communities for safer road.
Source:http://www.brta.gov
Road Side Trees, Markets, Bus Stops
Road side trees, markets and bus stoppage also bring haphazard and undisciplined movements of pedestrians on the roads. Therefore, at these places pedestrians are vulnerable to accident by trough traffic. In Bangladesh, unfortunately road transportation engineering is not conformity with the needs of smooth flow of traffic. Cities are growing mostly in unplanned fashion and roads are being constructed without giving the consideration on the traffic aspect. Intersections are ill design, having no arrangement for separating various modes of transport for unhindered flow of each mode. Canalization of the road is absent. Road junctions are not designed to separate traffic flow of different directions. May roads are without side walk and where there is not right of way for the pedestrian. The net result of these inadequate is the very high incidence of road accident causalities and fatalities.
Enforcement and Education Factors
The enforcement and education factors are important tools for solving traffic problems. Violation of administrative (tax, fitness, route permit, insurance policy) and safety (over speeding, overtaking from wrong side, violation red light, over loading etc) rules and regulations are often loaded to an accident. Furthermore, road designer’s lack of knowledge about traffic safety features and road user’s lack of knowledge on traffic rules and post accident assistance also increase the casualty rate of accident. Proper education through schools, community programs and mass media campaigns can increase general road safety awareness and thus can decrease the rate of occurrence of accident (Jahan, 2006).
Urban Road Safety: Context of Developed and Developing Countries
This section of the paper draws heavily from experience of World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention (2004), projects and evaluation reports because road safety activities in developing countries are mostly the result of interventions by external funding agencies. Whilst there have been some projects which focus on road safety, these are exclusively national projects. It is much more common to find road safety components as a small part of larger highway or urban projects as opposed to the entire project being road safety specific. Road accident is a ‘global tragedy’ with ever-rising trends in fatalities and injuries. Road trauma has now been recognized as one of the significant diseases of industrial societies and is an increasing public health economic issue in developing countries. According to the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention (2004), worldwide an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road accidents each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will increase by about 65 percent over the next 20 years unless there is new commitment to prevention. Furthermore, road traffic deaths are predicted to increase by 83 percent in low income and middle income countries and to decrease by 27 percent in high income countries. Of the total1.2 million deaths, by far the majority over 80 percent of road accident fatalities occur in the so called developing and emerging countries, even though these countries account only about one-third of the total motor vehicle fleet. Accident rates in developing countries are often 10 to 70 times higher than in developed countries. Whereas road accident situation is slowly improving in the industrialized societies (e.g. Australia, USA, UK), most developing countries face a worsening situation. The escalating road safety problem in the developing world thus represents serious health, social and economic disaster. Developing countries suffer staggering annual loss US$ 100 billion for road accidents, which is nearly equivalent to the double of all developing assistance .It is expecting that over the next ten years developing countries will experience the alarming increase in road traffic injuries. In fact, the road safety problem in developing countries may be much worse than the official statistics suggest because of widespread underreporting of road accident deaths and an over estimate of licensed vehicles resulting from scraped vehicles tending not to be removed from the vehicle register (Hoque, 2001).
Priority Road Safety Options for Bangladesh
Indeed, it is possible to significantly reduce the number of road accidents by implementing an effective and coordinated safety policy and actions which require significant improvements in the relevant sectors viz. better enforcement, better roads (including the treatment of accident black spots) and improved public education programs. There is also need for remedial road improvements setting realistic problem specific targets. It should be realized that the road accidents result from failures in the interaction of humans, vehicles and road environment- the elements that producing the road traffic system. The combination of these various elements to produce road accident means that the road safety itself has to be tackled in a multi-functional manner. An integrated multidisciplinary approach is required to reduce the road accident and consequent injuries and economic losses. Indeed road safety engineering strategies demand priority consideration as the road environment components remains a major consideration in the overall road safety management strategies. The potential of the road safety engineering approaches well recognized, as this approach can aid and influence road users to change their behavior, and can make the road environment safer through reducing conflicts (Haque, 2004).
Community Participation
The press contains many examples of violent reactions from communities when their members are injured or killed in road crashes. Examples of their involvement or participation in the development of improvements are rare but there are many instances of communities building their own speed barriers to slow down traffic. This motivation needs to be tapped and built into more rational and objective formal improvement programmers. There also needs to be more investigation of community issues to fulfill an essential role:
· Advising on improved training of school bus drivers and supervisors.
· Advising on how to make roads and the environment safer for children.
· Making recommendations for improved safety of school buses including vehicle licensing, safety and design.
Organize workshops on the safe transport of school children and also on the improved safety of auto rickshaw and cycle rickshaws (Haque, 2004).
Community Based Road Safety
Substantial opportunities and scope exist for creating a safer road environment through sustained introduction of safe community programs at the local levels by providing wider public participation and awareness as well as making necessary changes in behavior and environment. The community itself by virtue of its expertise, enthusiasm, resources and network can greatly enhance existing programs and even devise new way of tackling safety problems. About 30 to 40 percent of accidents and injuries could be reduced through such programs. The opportunities for community road safety cover a wide area, which includes a definition of community road safety and explanation of its role, outline of the programs, essential structures required for sustained programs and the other issues viz. good practices, integration of community road safety and other aspects of local government activities, wider communication and use of local media (Haque, 2004).
Traffic Police/Law Enforcement
Although the police in Dhaka have computerized crash data for the past few years, crash data sharing with the road engineers has yet to be formalized. In Addis Ababa, Hanoi and Harare, the engineers receive standardized print-outs of crash data but do not have the data or relevant software for analysis. Road engineers in Lusaka do not yet receive any crash data from the police on a regular basis. Traffic law enforcement is influenced by political and public pressure, which sees traffic congestion as a more immediate problem than road crashes.
Education and publicity
Urban road safety education and publicity programmes have tended to follow the national policy, and there are rarely additional programmes specifically for urban areas. Traffic clubs are organized by the traffic police and traffic volunteers assigned to assist at pedestrian crossings. It should be noted that there is no traffic safety lessons for school curriculum. More publicity efforts did occur at the urban level as campaigns are often too small for national exposure (Jahan, 2006).
It is important to intensify the enforcement and educational programs to alleviate the problems of road accidents. The current level of traffic law enforcement, vehicular regulations and road user’s education is exceedingly low in Bangladesh. It is well recognized that the most important way to reduce hazards of road accidents is to reduce road accidents. Road safety education, especially for children is an effective tool for better road users’ behavior on road (ADB, 1997). Public education through community leaders and local officials should be done repeatedly. Voluntary organizations, government/non-government organizations should prepare educational film on safe driving, defensive driving, etc. Extensive research on human factors in accidents could contribute significantly understanding of road users’ behavior involved in accidents. Detailed investigation is also necessary to identify the gaps and deficiencies in the perceived traffic safety knowledge of road users, particularly drivers of heavy vehicles (Haque, 2004).
Conditions for Successful Community Road Safety Program
There are certain minimum requirements in terms of institutional structure and resources at the local level and at the level of National government. While the local knowledge, effective working partnership and voluntaries have to come from the local level, central government has an important role in providing general guidance, expert advice and funding support.
The conditions are considered separately
· Requirements at the local level
· A stable representative local body;
· Effective personnel need to available at the effective level;
· Effective partnership;
· Commitment of local resource;
· Requirement at the central level
· Management support;
· Commitment to community road safety;
· Expert advice;
· Screening process for activities;
· Evaluation.
Engineering Road Safety: Road Environmental Improvements
In view of the existing problem characteristics and in the absence of any systematic approach taken, there is specific need and scope for road environmental improvements aimed at correcting the most common deficiencies in Bangladesh. A few of pragmatic road safety measures which could immediately be implemented at relatively low costs and within short periods of time for achieving safer road operations in Bangladesh are identified. Investigational studies in accident problem characteristics dictate that priorities be placed on such principles as traffic segregation to provide separate movement facilities and road spaces for pedestrians and Non-Motorized Vehicles (NMVs), pragmatic measures to improve and correct road user behaviors (self enforcing measures) through public motivational programs, proper canalization of road junctions, effective speed control/reducing measures and properly enforcement of traffic safety laws etc.
Immediate measures to achieve enhanced road safety and which would also offer cost- effective results include:
· Safety conscious planning of new road networks and safety audits of existing roads.
· Small changes/improvements in road layout and use of roundabouts.
· Incorporation of safety features in the design and construction of new road schemes.
· Treatments of roadway shoulders (provide wider and stronger shoulders).
· Intersection designs/improvements (flaring, canalization, traffic islands etc.).
· Installation and up gradation of median barriers, edge barriers at turning roads and refuse islands.
· Treatments of roadside hazards (trees, ditches, other fixed objects).
· Improvements of narrow and deteriorated bridges, culverts and lanes.
· Control over speeding and dangerous undesirable overtaking including traffic calming measures.
· Improved access controls, cross-sections, sight distances and alignments.
· Setting safety standards for fronts of vehicles, which would be less hazardous to pedestrians and cyclists.
· Improved conspicuity of vehicles in general, bicyclists and pedestrians in particular.
· Compulsory helmet use for motorcyclists and effective enforcement of laws and sanctions against alcohol impaired drivers.
· Compulsory use of seatbelts by motor vehicle operators and car occupants including child restraints (Haque, 2000).
The safety of the vulnerable road users must also be sufficiently catered for in the road safety engineering strategies and principles. Vulnerable road users are much more susceptible to accidents when vehicle speeds are high and can even suffer fatal injuries in accidents with motor vehicles at moderate speeds. Thus the most critical and effective measure which should be immediately adopted in every country is to reduce speeds particularly in urban areas. This measure alone will greatly reduce the overall number of road deaths as shown by experience all over the world (the number of fatalities was reduced by 32% in urban areas after speed limits of 50 km/h were enacted strictly enforced in Hungary). A necessary prerequisite to the development of such cost-effective solutions to the accident problems is of course an improved understanding of the accident problem.
Possible Safety Issues of Concern
After determining the contributory factor responsible for specific accident types at specific location from the analysis of data, the countermeasure are proposed to reduce accidents. There are number of principles which should be considered in the development of countermeasure for specific locations general, traffic engineer should attempt to satisfy these principles to an extent determined by the individual needs of significant road user groups and the pattern of accident at the study area.
· There are few safety issues of concern:
· Defective and road unworthy motor vehicles;
· Driver incompetence;
· Under reporting of accident;
· Inadequate in police inspection and safety education (Haque, 2003).
Accident Data collection System
To identify particular problems that are treatable and for which specific appropriate action can be designed a reliable accident data base is essential. Accident data can be used at the national level by policy makers to understand the broad nature, scale, and characteristics of the problem so that appropriate nationwide interventions. This includes safety officer and highway, engineer, police, lawyers, researches .politicians, teachers, insurance companies, and member of the public.
B. Key Components for Data Collection System are:
There are four basic components to the way an accident data system operates, as follows;
· Accident reporting and recording system;
· Accident data storage and retrieval system;
· Accident analysis system; and
· Dissemination of data (Haque, 2003).
Accident Repotting and Recording System
In the world difference types of accidents on different types of road are reported by difference section of the police or even by separate organizations because of jurisdiction agreements. This often leads to problems and it is strongly recommended that there by only one single organization responsible for collating and compiling the national accident data base and that the police are the most appropriate group to carry out this important task (Haque, 2003).
STUDY AREA
Description of the Mohammadpur Thana
Mohammadpur is a Thana of Dhaka District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Though initially Mohammadpur has grown as a residential area, nowadays many commercial places can be found here. The area has become more crowded than it was before. Massive urbanization has turned Mohammadpur into a miniature city and has resulted in the loss of natural environment including wetlands.
Table : Description of Mohammadpur Thana
| Area | 10.62 square kilometers. |
| Bounded by | Mirpur and kafrul thanas on the north, hazaribagh thana on the south, tejgaon and Mohammadpur thanas on the east, Savar upazila on the west. |
| Profile | Mohammadpur thana consists of five wards, 45 mouzas.
Mohammadpur Thana Dhaka is located in District. Upazilla(s)/Thana(s) in are . |
Source: (Banglapidea, 2007).
Land Use Characteristics of the Study Area
Mohammadpur is a planned residential area of Dhaka city. At present, nearly one-third of the plots of Mohammadpur Residential Area are used for non-residential purposes, which include shops and stores, government and semi-government offices, show rooms and warehouses of business firms, NGO offices and clinics, educational institutions and even manufacturing units Mohammadpur nowadays is more of a commercial area than a residential area. Although there is a growing number of an apartment complex replacing the original two-storied houses, there are many non-residential establishments almost on every street, most of which are schools, hospitals, restaurants and shopping centers.consequence is huge traffic generation and acute traffic congestion in the area during the peak hour. Consequently, the residential character of the area has changed very drastically (Banglapidea, 2007).
Figure: Mohammadpur Thana and the Study Area
Source: Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) 2003
Figure 3.1: Road Hierarchy of the Mohammadpur
Source: Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) 2003
Present Traffic Condition of the Study Area
In Mohammadpur there are more than 30 entrances around Mirpur road, Zigatola road, Dhanmondi and Kollanpur.
Provision for Pedestrian (Footpath)
According to thumb rule, 10% of a road’s width should be allotted for pedestrian circulation but it is often impractical to set the standard for the width of pedestrian paths with the help of thumb rule. In fact, the size of footpath is dependent on the type, volume and frequency of use. Minimum width of footpath should be 4 ft in residential areas while in busy areas 12-20 ft .The width of footpath is not satisfactory in Mohammadpur Area.
Intersection
In the study area (Mohammadpur residential area) mainly canalized T junction and canalized cross section is available. Canalizing intersection reduces accidents, conflicting turning movement, high speed etc.
Speed breaker
In Mohammadpur R/A area there is some speed breaker on some location of the road but they are not located on appropriate location such as on zebra crossing, in front of school, colleges or university, or in front of shopping mall where vehicles need to reduce their speed for pedestrian crossing.
Road Signs and pavement markings
Pavement markings in the study area are not always satisfactory situation. In most cases there are necessary pavement markings but in some cases the condition is worse. There no zebra crossing for pedestrians.
1. Existing Roadway Situation
2. Road Hierarchy
According to the width of the road, three types of road are found in the study area. They are classified as follows.
· Primary road
· Secondary road
· Tertiary road
Width of those types of road, their median width and footpath width is given below:
Table 3.2: Road Hierarchy of Mohammadpur Residential Area
| Type | Road width | Median Width | Footpath Width |
| Primary Road | 45-60 | 2-3 | 5-6 |
| Secondary Road | 24-30 | – | 4-5 |
| Tertiary Road | 8 to 12 | – | – |
Provision of NMT and MT
NMT situations
Rickshaws and other NMT account for 50% or more of the overall traffic flow on roads.
About 60% of trips are on foot while almost half of the remaining trips are on non-motorized vehicles.
MT situation
76% of the residents have personal motor vehicle.
24% have more than one vehicle. Those motor vehicles include Cars, Jeep, and Microbus etc.
People of high income groups, who have more than one car have tendency to make travels with their own cars for comfort, safety and time saving purposes. Even they make travel with their private cars for shorter distance (Jahan, 2008).
Existing Road Infrastructure
Mohammadpur has a grid iron pattern road network and almost all the plots were rectangular and almost in same size when designed. Three type’s roads were designed for this area. The major through passing are the Mirpur road and Satmasjid road of more than 80 feet wide while the secondary roads are 45 feet and access roads of 25 feet. It was already mentioned that Mohammadpur has traditional grid iron pattern of road consisting of more than twenty intersections. The grid has more than 15 deaf ends which dose not fulfills the design standards for a planned dead end like cui-de-sac.
In Mohammadpur area there are about 42 km pucca and 10 km mud road. Streets of the Mohammadpur area are arranged basically in grid iron pattern with some semicircular layout streets shaped by the configuration of the lake and lake side green areas in order to provide a high standard of connectivity network. Surface quality of most of the streets is also satisfactory. Present safety scenario of the area people does not follow traffic signal while crossing road. When the speed of vehicles is slow then they have a tendency to cross road by running. (Jahan, 2008)
Research Methodology
Traffic operation is the interaction of certain base elements such as road users, the vehicles and the road. Knowledge of vehicles accidents classification, severity type, variation of accident with time, cost of accidents, various geometric design aspects are needed to determine the cost effective severity at hazardous sites. A number of criteria have been used to identify hazardous sites. The most popular methods for the identification of hazardous sites are accidents rates and number of accidents. in this chapter an overview of the methodological considerations in traffic accident research, hazardous location identification, and different methods for determining accident rates, relative exposure to accidents of a certain type, statistical quality control of accident data, clustering of accidents, road accident data source, data collection procedures, traffic count procedures for determining volume, speed data collection, various geometric design aspects as well as verification and limitation of the study have been discussed.
Theoretical Framework of the Methodology of Traffic Accident Research
Traffic accident research methods can be broadly categorized under three major headings:
· Theoretical
· Empirical
· Simulation
However, by far of the most of the accidents research has been conducted on the basis of empirical method, which involves the use of sets of data obtain in the form of observation or counts. These data are then analyzed under two broad categories:
· Detailed technical investigation of accident events
· General surveys of system wide accident patterns
The general category of accident study is mainly oriented towards providing information on accident data in a manner or less non technical form. It is associated with describing accident rate, accident number or fatality number in terms of per unit of population, registered vehicles, vehicles conditions, road design, and traffic management. The technical category of road safety study is based the site specific location to determine the patterns of accident types, accidents causes and thus give direction toward appropriate remedial safety measure.
Methodology Used in This Investigation
In order to carry out comprehensive accident investigation study in line with the objective set out in the preceding articles. The following methodology was followed:
First, Accident related all Types of Data were collected from:
· Accident Research Institute (ARI), BUET.
· Concerned police station.
· Road user people.
Second, General Characteristics of Accidents was determined to:
· Define the year based data by using different variables
· Define the accident severity by using variables
· To Find the Accident Prone Location:
· Define the number of in different location in the investigation time period’
· Define the severity of accident in that location’
· Define the road sections, which are accident prone from the collecting data’
· Define the existing roadways’
· Define the specific locations which are vulnerable’
· Ranking the road segment and location by using accident data.
A limited number of people’s opinion was collected to share with their experience and knowledge in tackling accident event. These works was carried among the authority of accident research institute (ARI), BUET, Mohammadpur thana. It was also carried out among the road user, inhabitants of the residence, drivers, passengers and pedestrians in order to get their views about the safety awareness and high occurrence of accident in this area.
Finally, based on the finding of the investigation, appropriate suggestions were made to improve the road safety aspects in the context of a planned neighborhood area like Mohammadpur.
Technique Adopted for Accident Investigation
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Figure : Technique Adopted for Accident Investigation
Accident Data Collection Approach
Data was collected from primary and secondary sources
Reconnaissance Survey
Before collected the data, it is needed reconnaissance survey for the prepare concept about the selected area, and also observe the present situation of the area. In this research, the important points are the types of accident of the study area, present traffic safety scenario, road condition, traffic flow of that area. From those primary surveys, a primary concept developed about the causes of accidents, hazardous location in this area and plan for reduce the accident in this area.
Primary Data
A primary data will be collected from the field survey. These surveys will be done among the general people, local shop owner, traffic sergeant, drivers, officials of the transport institutions, official of local Thana and experts related to road accident research.
Secondary data
Main source of secondary data are research papers, journals, book etc. previous accident records main source are local Thana’s records, news papers. At present time the accident data collection main source is the Accident Research Institute (ARI), BUET.
Analysis of Data
Analysis of all collected data from primary and secondary sources for collection exploring the major cause of accidents, and find a possible solution for reducing the road accident, and comfortable using road.
Draft Report preparation
Draft report shows the fault and shortage of the data in the research paper. So after the presentation of draft report, it will be possible to collect the necessary data again. And prepare the final report correctly.
Final Report Preparation
Final report presents the whole works beside this paper. And this paper is prepared.
ACCIDENT DATA ANALYSIS AT MOHAMMADPUR THANA
Road accident data of the study area, Dhaka and whole of the Bangladesh are described in this chapter. Data have been collected from Accident Research Institute (ARI), BUET, and the reported accident data in 2008 also collected from Mohammadpur Thana. This will help to define the study areas present scenario.
Road Traffic Accident
Currently road accident is the ninth biggest cause of premature death in the world, which is estimated to be responsible for around 500,000 deaths and 15 million injuries every year. Together with the social impact in terms of suffering of the people, the economic loss of accident to the developing countries alone is estimated to be around US$ 100 Billion. By the year 2020, it is expected that road accident will become the third heights cause of death and liability in the world (Haque, 2000).
The scenario in Bangladesh
Globally Road traffic accidents, injuries and victims are causing great concern to the community in Bangladesh. According to the official statistics, there were at least 3334 fatalities and 3740 injuries in 4114 reported accidents in 2003. It is estimated that the actual fatalities could be 10000-12000 each year. The road safety is rapidly deteriorating with increasing number of road deaths, largely as a direct consequence of rapid growth in population, motorization and urbanization and lack of adequate investment in road safety (Haque, 2004).
The national trends of police reported road traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries reported to police for the period.1994-2003 of Bangladesh is shown in the Table 1. Significant fluctuations in the numbers of fatalities and injuries clearly reflect the problems of reporting inconsistencies. Yet it is clear that the number of fatalities has been increasing from 1597 in 1994 to 3334 in 2003, nearly 2.5 times in 10 years period. The statistics revealed that Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates in road accidents, over 100 deaths per 10000 motor vehicles. Together with the social impact in terms of pain, grief and suffering, there is a serious economic burden. In current prices, road accident in Bangladesh is costing community in the order of Taka 5000 core (US $ 800 million, nearly 2% of GDP) per annum. Between 70 -80 percent of accidents occur on highways and rural roads (Haque, 2004).
Table: Reported Road Accident Trends in Bangladesh (1998-2007)
| Year | No. ofAccidents | No. of Fatalities | No. of Injuries | Total Casualties |
| 1998 | 4769 | 3085 | 3997 | 7082 |
| 1999 | 3942 | 3314 | 2620 | 5934 |
| 2000 | 3970 | 3058 | 3485 | 6543 |
| 2001 | 2925 | 2388 | 3285 | 4953 |
| 2002 | 3941 | 3053 | 3285 | 6338 |
| 2003 | 4114 | 3334 | 3740 | 7074 |
| 2004 | 3970 | 3058 | 3485 | 6543 |
| 2005 | 2925 | 2388 | 3285 | 4953 |
| 2006 | 2512 | 2854 | 3544 | 6125 |
| 2007 | 3584 | 3125 | 3487 | 5876 |
Source: Accident Research Institute (ARI), 2009
Road Traffic Accidents in the Study Area
This Chapter presents the road traffic accidents of the study area, Mohammadpur R/A. Accident Data are collected from Accident Research Institute (ARI), BUET, For the purpose of collecting information about road environment and the necessary data were collected from Accident Research Institute (ARI), BUET and Mohammadpur Thana, and also been identified hazardous location discussing with the local people, traffic police and police sergeant on duty at the Mohammadpur Thana.
Road accident data about five years (2003-2008), starting January 2003 to December 2008, as recorded a total 173 road accident.
Table 5.2: Types of Collision at Mohammadpur Thana in Different Years (2003-2008)
| Collision Type | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Total | |
| Head on Collision | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 12 | |
| Rear End | 7 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 19 | 69 | |
| 90’ Degree | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| Side | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Over turn | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Parke Vehicle | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Pedestrian | 9 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 56 | |
| Animal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
| Total | 21 | 30 | 27 | 16 | 40 | 39 | 173 | |
Source: Accident Research Institute (ARI) and Mohammadpur Thana, 2009
The present day accident reporting system as followed by the police has considerable deficiency and weakness with respect to information on accident variables it is envisaged that major revisions of the existing accident report form be made to provide perfect, enlightening and useful data are for use in accident analysis and in the evolution of the road safety initiatives in the accident report.
Causes of Accident at the Mohammadpur
From Table 2, it can be said that the accident is occurring in the area due to following reasons:
· Carelessness of Drivers;
· Carelessness of pedestrian;
· Pedestrian are covered by the mobile vendors;
· Tendency of violation of speed rules;
· Not maintained sign and symbols of roads.
· Weak enforcement of traffic rules.
Distribution of Accidents
Fig : Distribution of Total Accident by Year (2003-2008)
Source: Accident Research Institute (ARI) and Mohammadpur Thana, 2009
Considering the six years (2003-08) total accident data shows in figure 5.1 that the trend of accident increased at Mohammadpur. It also shows that at the year 2006 there were only 15 accidents, but it quickly jumped at a average of 40 accidents in last 2 years.
Distribution of Total Accident by Collision Type (2003-2008)
Distribution of accident on collisions types, that the most important analysis part of the research. Because the types of accident at neighborhood Mohammadpur, the safety factor is bond awake with the reverse the factor of accident. When the traffic safety will increasing, than the rate of accident will be reduced. So the first strategy to identify the cause of accident on the study area, and find out the safety factors that is available on that particular place.
Fig : Distribution of Total Accident by Collision Types (2003-2008)
Source: Accident Research Institute (ARI) and Mohammadpur Thana, 2009
Figure shows that the rear end collisions and pedestrian collisions is crucial which occur at Mohammadpur. Last seven years the total the rear end accidents is the beigest number 69 (39%) out of total 173 accidents. In 2008 the rear end accident is highest in the study area during last six years and it’s also mentioned that the rate of pedestrian and rear end accident is increasing. This data is following with pedestrian collision, 56(32%) ou