Road Safety Engineering Toolkit
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RS ENGINEERING TOOLKIT RS Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Procedure Techniques Note 1 RS Procedure Treating Accident Black spots in Bangladesh Note 2 RS Procedure Route Studies in Bangladesh Note 3 RS Procedure Mass Action Plans in Bangladesh Note 4 RS Procedure Area Wide Road Safety Measures in Bangladesh Note 5 RS Manual for Road Safety Audit in Procedure Bangladesh Note 6 RS Monitoring and Evaluating Implemented Procedure Schemes in Bangladesh Note 7 RS Procedure Accident Studies in Bangladesh Note 8 RS Procedure Special Studies in Bangladesh Note 9 GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS ROADS AND RAILWAYS DIVISION SECOND ROAD REHABILITATION AND MAINTENANCE PROJECT INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT Road Safety Engineering Procedure Note 1. Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. PRINCIPLES OF SITE SELECTION 2.1 Identifying accident problems 2.2 Accident history 2.3 Rising trends 2.4 Common problems 2.5 Objectives 2.6 The site selection routine 2.7 Regular reviewing of the accident network 3. THE SCOPE OF MAAPfive IN ACCIDENT BLACKSPOT INVESTIGATION 3.1 Highway accidents 3.2 City accidents 3.3 Searching for selected types of accidents 4. REVIEWING OF MAAP ACCIDENT PLOTS TO PRODUCE A PRELIMINARY LIST OF BLACKSPOT LOCATIONS 4.1 Example 1 4.1.1 Identifying and examining a cluster of accidents at Khulgaon Road, Dhaka 4.1.2 Examining the stick diagram for accident patterns 4.1.3 Preparing the accident summary 4.2 Example 2 4.2.1 Identifying and examining a cluster of accidents at Narayanganj Road, Dhaka 4.2.2 The stick diagram 4.2.3 The accident summary APPENDIX A. IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS SITES A.1 Accident data research A.2 Ranking of high-risk locations A.3 Single sites A.4 Mass action sites A.5 Route action sites A.6 Area-wide action A.7 Area-wide identification A.8 Example of an area-wide ranking process A.9 Characteristics of ranking procedures A.10 Conflict studies A.11 Basic concepts A.12 Uses of the traffic conflicts techniques in practice A.13 Specific uses of the conflict techniques A.14 Preliminary accident analysis A.15 Statistical tests A.16 The Poisson test A.17 Chi Squared test A.18 Interpretation of “Significance” A.19 Preliminary visit A.20 “Easy” and “Hard” sites RRMP2 : Institutional Development Component Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques 1. INTRODUCTION The level of success of a Road Safety Unit will depend largely on the ability of the team to use the accident database to accurately identify, prioritise and deal with sites with a history of ‘treatable’ accident problems. Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques is the first stage in this process. Figure 1. shows the relationship between site selection techniques and other road safety engineering practices. There are several established and proven procedures for arriving at effective site selection practice. All systems depend on the availability of reliable data collected over a reasonable period of time, usually three full years. In Bangladesh there is a lack of wide- spread data, where we have data the problem of accident under reporting means that we only have part of the full picture. Where data is building up, accident problems are beginning to emerge. This paper sets out an interim practice that uses the data that is available now. This can be achieved by: · reviewing accident plots on the network to find accident clusters · examining the detail of the accidents in that cluster, if common accidents are found · preparing a simple basic analysis This analysis will then be sent to the Head of the Road Safety Unit who will then decide what further preliminary analysis is required or if that location should immediately be put on the Accident Blackspot programme for full investigation. The database will quickly grow and it will be necessary to use more refined orthodox techniques. Appendix A reproduces ‘The Identification of Hazardous Sites’ written by Stein Lundebye and Youssef Lahrech, The World Bank. As the situation improves data builds up and local expertise develops, ‘The Identification of Hazardous Sites’ will become relevant and will become a valuable tool to use and build upon. We are grateful to Stein Lundebye and Youssef Lahrech who freely gave their permission to reproduce this work. We are also grateful to Graham Elliott (Transport Research Laboratory, UK) who during a recent visit prepared a short paper, Section 3, that sets out additional techniques for developing MAAPfive data for these exercises. Graham Elliott has been responsible for developing the database in Bangladesh. Note : This Procedure Note should not be used by persons without appropriate Road Safety Engineering training. Road Safety Engineering : Procedure Note 1. 1 RRMP2 : Institutional Development Component Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques Road Safety Engineering : Procedure Note 1. 2 RRMP2 : Institutional Development Component Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques 2. PRINCIPLES OF SITE SELECTION 2.1 Identifying accident problems An ‘accident problem’, as defined in Road Safety Engineering terms, is a group of similar accident types found at a location, on a route or in a specified area. If the accident history of two fairly similar junctions are being examined; 15 accidents occurred at both locations, and if we then look closely at the type of accidents and can find treatable problems at one of the sites and none at the other, we can direct our resources to the site with the problems. For example if at the first site we find that accidents are spread, occurring on different arms of the junction and they involve different road users carrying out different manoeuvres, it is unlikely that effective measures can be found. If at the second site six accidents involved a vehicle turning right, from the major road into the minor, and seven accidents involved a pedestrian crossing the major road it is very likely that countermeasures can be devised to treat the two identified accident problems. 2.2 Accident history A three year period is normally required to determine a location’s accident history, five years in rural or lightly trafficked areas. In the majority of cases sufficient data is not available. That should not hold up the search for accident blackspot sites. Analysis based on a reduced time scale will be incomplete and compromised but it will throw up problems. These ‘compromised’ analyses will require additional confirmation and ratification, through site investigation techniques. Conditions during the period of study should be unchanged. The assessment and analysis must always take major changes into account. If a major traffic management scheme has significantly altered traffic volumes and patterns in the second year, it is highly likely that the accident pattern will substantially alter. Road Safety Engineering : Procedure Note 1. 3 RRMP2 : Institutional Development Component Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques 2.3 Rising trends. The high rate of traffic growth in Bangladesh will influence accident rates. If the number of accidents at a site are increasing (a rising trend), is the increase due to a worsening local problem or pro-rata with a general growth in traffic, or results of a local accident problem developing. There are several techniques (using control data) that will clarify the situation. These techniques are discussed later. 2.4 Common problems Measures can often be devised at locations with a high incidence of accidents involving: · non motorised vehicles · buses · trucks · right turning vehicles · cross road collisions · loss of control · vehicles skidding · pedestrian accidents · head on collisions · vehicles leaving the carriageway · speed related factors · occurring during the hours of darkness 2.5 Objectives 1. The primary objective is to design the annual work programme to lead to the implementation of the maximum number of well-targeted measures in each year. 2. When discussing site selection techniques, reference is often made to ‘easy’ sites and ‘hard’ sites. In this context an ‘easy’ site is a location with a strong, clearly defined accident problem, for which (after further investigation) it should be relatively easy to find the correct measures. A ‘hard’ site is a location with problems requiring fuller investigations and possibly wide ranging treatment. ‘Hard’ sites are invariably the Road Safety Engineering : Procedure Note 1. 4 RRMP2 : Institutional Development Component Identifying Hazardous Locations in Bangladesh - Site Selection Techniques more important locations, major junctions or interchanges and involve large numbers of accidents. If a scheme is developed it is likely that scheme will require negotiation and approval of several outside agencies and departments. This can be complicated, time consuming and may result in considerable effort being spent on a scheme that stalls or fails to get the approval of all the participants. The final programme should include a large proportion of ‘easy’ sites with a fewer number of the most promising ‘hard’ sites. By focusing most of our efforts on easy sites we will ensure that we will implement a large proportion of the schemes, but not neglect work on harder sites. 2.6 The site selection routine Annual programme. The major site selection programme should commence as soon as the full year’s data becomes available. This should produce the basis for the years work.. To complement this programme, supplementary scanning of accidents on the network should be carried out at three months six months and twelve month intervals. 2.7 Regular reviewing of the accident network Regular reviewing of the accident network is elementary but good practice. Basic but systematic reviewing of the network can identify potential accident blackspots quickly and easily. Probably one of the most cost-effective and productive methods of identifying blackspot sites in London developed from this practice.