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, , , 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

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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

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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

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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 is calculated sections with more than a predetermined number of accidents. 3. Weighted Severity Index (WSI): [6] In weighted severity index method, the severity of accident is considered. For the particular location the accidents are classified as Fatal abbreviated as K , Grievous injuries abbreviated as GI and minor injuries as MI then the weighted severity index is calculated by adding these classified accidents with highest weightage is given to Fatal accident which is 41 grievous injuries are given weightage as 4 and Minor injuries as 1 then the weighted severity index is given as , [WSI = (41 x K) + (4 x GI) + (1 x MI)]

II.STUDIES AND METHODOLOGIES

Meeghat Habbiban, Mahamoud Mesbah (2011), [13] carried out accidental studies in Bangladesh where road accidents are very high and need significant attention. Dhaka – Chittagong highway which is main highway in Bangladesh have witness more than 14% fatal accidents of the country. The accidental risky zones or locations on Dhaka – Chittagong highway were identified in this study. Software named „Microcomputer Accident Analysis Package Five‟ (MAAP5) is used in this study to analyze the data from Accident Research Institute, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. The study consists of identification and detail accidental analysis of 35 segments as Hazardous road locations (HRL) on Dhaka – Chittagong Highway by using Geographic Information System, and then analyze them for most hazardous locations for occurrence of accidents . Niels Agerholm et.al.,(2012) [16] carried out study in Denmark and hinted that identification of hazardous road locations(HRL) is most important aspect in road safety . Massive underreporting has been recorded from the data collected from police department. Thus, in 2007 only 14% of the serious

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injury accidents were reported in Denmark, and the proportion is decreasing. Hence, HRL identification and enhancement are carried out more or less at random. Also, they are retrospective, i.e. accidents must occur before road safety enhancements can be made. In place of that procedure, a predictive model based on serious jerks (the derivative of deceleration) found in GPS data from driving cars is under development. Other studies have found a connection between serious jerks and conflicts. This paper focuses on a small-scale study based on a distance driven of 38,000 km and 2 million observations. It is found that to be useful for HRL identification observations they should include a clear indication of when deceleration is initiated as well as when deceleration ends. Also, to avoid erroneous results due to speed bumps etc. a measurable reduction of the driving speed has to occur within few seconds prior to the jerk. Furthermore, the speed prior to jerks has to be above a certain level to enable distinction from results involving for example the passing of kerbs and departure from driveways. However, large-scale studies are required to assess if the approach is sufficiently reliable and to establish a threshold for including jerks in the HRL identification. These studies were initiated towards the end of 2012. S.M. Sohel Mahmud et.al (2011), [20] carried out accidental studies in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, Dhaka-Archy Highway is important and major highway which connects interregional areas. In recent past this highway is considered as most hazardous in terms of accidents and fatalities per kilometer. In this study, as per police records every year almost 180accidents and 120fatilities reported only on the patch of 75 km on this national highway. After detail investigations it has been observed that on three percent of total 75 km road segment 25 percents of accidents are concentrated. They defined these locations as Hazardous Road Locations (HRL). So, in this paper the author concluded that more focused way to analyze such HRLs should be identified and factors which are responsible for accidents needs to be evaluated by using new technologies Geographical Information System. There should be more site investigations and focus group discussion needs to be carried on this issue. Apparao. G, P,et.al.,(2013) [2] As stated in this paper, the development policies for reduction for accidents are very much difficult to adopt for developing countries or countries with weak economy as compared with developed countries. Road traffic accidents cause adverse effect to economic growth

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in the developing countries, hence it responsible for social and economic impact on environment. So, road safety is very important issue in improvement of transportation of that country. Injuries and death in road accidents are adversely affects to modern road transportation systems. Highway improvement and traffic safety programs success depends on the analysis of quality and precise database of accidents. The study is carried out in Uttrakhand state on NH58 and GIS is used to identify accidental black spots on this highway which is going from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar, some remedial measures are also suggested for reduction of accidents on this highway. Bobade S.U et.al (2015) [5] hinted that National highways are play vital role in the development of country, recently constructed Pune - Solapur highway in Maharashtra state experienced many fatal accidents since it became fully operational. Accident free corridor was the aim while designing and planning Pune - Solapure Highway. The normal causes of accidents were taken into consideration while designing and planning. Though atmost care taken this highway has became death trap for many peoples travelling over it. This is four lane National Highway constructed and maintained by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), it is connecting educational hub Pune to newly developed industrial corridor Solapur. The record of accidental data on Pune- Solapure highway is maintained by “HACK COMMITTEE” which is located in Hydrabad. The accidental data in this study was collected by NHAI and local police stations and the categories are made on the basis of accidents nature, accidents classification, accident cause and other parameter which are predominant for causing accident. The method of ranking, density of accidents, weighted severity index and ranking methods are used for identification of accidental black spots Mahmoudreza Keymanesh,et.al,.(2017) [14], in this paper, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which is enhanced procedure used in audit of road safety is used to identify and to compute the accident prone points at the Iraanshahr-Sarbaaz-Chabahar road which is present in Baluchistan, Iran First they specified all factors that could responsible for accidents on this road by survey the whole road and then road is divided into eight sections based on geometric design and regional conditions of the route, uniformity and homogeny of each section was the criteria used for division. The questionnaires were prepared for identification of hazardous locations which afterwards were filled by the 5 experts who knows that area and those who were familiar with the route. The data collected form experts is analyzed by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) using Expert Choice Software. The

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identified accidental black spots are then compared with local police accidental data . Athira Mohan,et.al.,(2017),[3] in her paper hinted that increase in number of vehicles responsible for increase in pollution which led the road authorities to get more focus on the road safety improvements. According to the recent road accident data, Maharashtra state has reported the highly pullulated as well highest accident rate state which needs the safety improvements. In this study, accidental Black spots were identified along Asain Highway 46 Amravati corridor to Nagpur corridor. Weighted Severity index is used to identify accidental black spots and the remedial measures were suggested for overall improvement in transportation system. CONCLUSION: As per discussions above, it is observed that many researchers have worked on the problem of road accidents by using various parameters such as accidents nature, accidents classification, location of accidents, causes of accidents by considering various methods like ranking method, Method of weighted severity index, method of accidental density etc. and trying to minimize the road accidents. However, road accidents area very uncertain parameter and cannot be easily minimize using conventional methods. The separate detailed study is needed to neutralize such accident causing parameters so as to decrease the accidental black spot severity. An attempt needs to be made to develop a new methodology using "Fuzzy Logic" seems to be best suitable for the analysis and minimization of road accidents on Expressways and National Highways. Future study needs to concentrate on above significant aspect for safe and sustainable development as it is consider to be a potential area of research. REFERENCES

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