Accidental Analysis and Black Spot Identification on Expressways and National Highways: a Review
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Accidental Analysis and Black Spot Identification on Expressways and National Highways: A Review 1 2 Snehal U Bobade , Dr.Ravindra K Lad . 1Research Scholar ,Department of Civil Engineering, RSCOE , Tathwade, Pune, Maharashtra, India. 2 Research Guide ,Department of Civil Engineering, RSCOE ,Tathwade, Pune, Maharashtra, India. Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU),Pune, Maharashtra, India. Abstract National highways and Expressways are playing vital role in the development of country. If we consider the accidental data all over the world it has been observed the on an average per hour almost 13 peoples are dying due to the road accidents. The road traffic injury is the major cause of death for youngsters having age between 15-29, as per global status reports on road safety (2013) by world health organization (WHO). Statically the spot at which accidents had occurred repeatedly is called as ‘Accidental black spot’ (ABS). To overcome this problem Accidental Prevention Committee (APC) is formulated by Government of India in the year 1997. The major area of work of this committee is to identify accidental black spots (ABS) on the highways and after study of those spots suggest the corrective majors to avoid it in future. Three mode of transportation are air, land, and transportation through water. The land transportation provides door to door service hence it plays vital role for development of country. If we consider the world wide total road length India is second largest country having total road length of 4,865,000 km and also having tremendous population hence, there is need of excellent transportation system. If we consider the scenario of road density as compare to other states Maharashtra is having very high road density. The numbers of motor vehicles 166 | P a g e are also increasing day by day in Maharashtra. So there is need to take the issue of road accidents at priority, in this paper the attempt has been made to summarize the work done by various people in this field of road accidents. The detailed work done by various scientists has been mention in later part of the paper. Key Words: Accidental Black spot, National Highway, Expressway. I.INTRODUCTION 1.1 GENERAL National highways and Expressways are playing vital role in the development of country. To increase employment in agriculture, industry, commerce, health and sanitation national development program plays an important role which leads to communication and transportation between the developed, under developed and or totally under developed areas. National highways are being administrated by the central government. The works related to National Highways are generally executed by an organization „Public Works Department (PWD). There are some specific cases in which it is executed by organization „Central Public Works Department‟ (CPWD). The technical and other difficulties related to road network are resolved by the ministry of surface transport and the state government. Due to increase in speed there is considerable reduction in travelling time result in increasing the number of accidents on the roads. The increase in fatal road accidents causing death of people travelling on it, from recent statistics it is confirmed that per hour more than 13 people are dying in road accidents [8]. To overcome this problem the separate organization has now set by the central government to deals with National Highways known as National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). There is social , economical and socio – economical impact of road accidents in the development of country so there is need of framing policies for reduction of road accidents and makes it essential to study the causes of road accidents. With the help of police and other non- Governmental agencies JPRI help the Indian Government by conducting accidental studies at no cost. JPRI research team investigates the road crashes in scientific manner and involved detailed examination of road crashes. Whenever it is possible the researchers also visit the accident spot and accident victim to understand the accident. The report on the various road accidents on expressway by JPRI , the basic objective of this report by JPRI is that identify the contributing factors responsible for accidents and rank them based on the number of accidents these 167 | P a g e factors have influenced .Based on this ranking policy makers, decision makers and road safety stakeholders are plan cost-effective road safety measures. Highways and Expressways are the major part from the economical and social development point of view of country but on the other hand road traffic and road accidents are become a major problem. Thus the cause of accidents needs to be studied in greater detail and attempts has to be made to reduce it so as to avoid the loss of lives in road accidents. 1.2 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS ON ROADS An unexpected, unintentional and very unfortunate incidence which causes death or injury to the people travelling on roadways is called as „Road Accident‟. Carelessness, inconsiderateness and over confidence are the major reasons of road accidents. The Road accidents were coupled with number of problems and hence each of them needed to be addressed separately. Following are some reasons which are responsible for accident on the road- Sharp drop or corner in a straight road: If the sharp drop or corner in a straight road is present it often leads to accident. Hidden junction on a fast road: Generally National & State Highways which are passes through villages are having hidden junction points connecting to main Highway leads to accidents. Poor warning signs at cross-roads: Accidents may happen due to poor warning signs or lack of informatory signs or board present at cross roads or where road having steep slope. Sharp curves: Sharp curves are responsible for occurrence of accident. Accidents occurred due to sharp curves needs to be studied very less research reported till date explaining this cause. Use of Mobile Phones while driving: Most of the people are talking on call while driving it occupies major portion of brain and distract the driver also hampers reaction time and ability of judgment of driver thus they drive irresponsibly and accident was happened. Over speeding: with increase in speed of vehicle there is considerable reduction in travelling time which is responsible for most of the fatalities accident and severity of accidents.Faster vehicle is more prone to accidents and severity than slower one. With increase in speed of vehicle risk of accident also increases. Faster vehicle require more time to apply the brake and 168 | P a g e needs greater distance to stop. Drunken driver: Alcohol is responsible for reduction of concentration of driver. It decreases the reaction time and vision while driving. The risk of accidents gets double with every increase of 0.05 blood alcohol concentration. Many drugs, medicines are responsible for the loose of concentration and skill of the driver. Red light jumping: The main objective of Red light jumping is saving travelling time and fuel, a red light jumper is responsible for the loose of concentration of other drivers and motivate them to do same act finally cause the accident at the crossing. 1.3 ACCIDENTAL BLACK SPOTS In the study it has been observed that accidents occurred at particular location consistently and such locations are identified as black spots. Identification of black spot is considered as effective method for rectification. Several researchers have defined accidental black spot as: According to Dr. Wichuda Kowtanpanich (2003), High risk location where more accidents or vehicle crashes occurs is termed as Black spot” [9]. Rajan. J.Lad (2003), hinted that “The black spots are identified based on the recorded, speed observed, deficiency of the geometry and pedestrians volume, spot on the road with occurrence of traffic accidents occurred in very high number is termed as black spot” [11]. Concentration of road accidents leads to term specific spot as accidental black spot as per road safety management [17]. As per Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics of Australia (2001), „ The locations classified according to level of risks and chances of vehicle crash occurring at each location is Accidental Black Spot[7] . According to Hauer (1996), Accident rate can be considered and by using ranking method these spots termed as accidental black spot if accident rate is high , accidents per km-year or accidents per year that is accident frequency can be use to identify that whether the spot is accidental Black spot or not. In many cases the combination of these two that is accident frequency and accident rate both are used to identify accidental black spot[19] . 1.4 IDENTIFICATION OF BLACK SPOTS Accidental black spots on National Highway was found out by various methods such as – 1. Method of Ranking: [5] In this method first the parameters responsible for occurrence of accidents are found out. Then the parameter which is continuously responsible for occurrence of accident as per logical analysis is given 169 | P a g e top rank and the parameter which is not so responsible for occurrence of accidents in that given geographical area is given lower ranks. This method is applicable to that particular study area only. The Ranks can also be decided by taking expert opinion. 2. Accident Density Method: [6] Accidental Density is defined as „the number of accidents per unit length for a section of highway‟. In this method, unit length is taken as 500m and the accidental density