Sustainable Urban Transport Research Center (SUTRA)

Department of Civil and Structural EngineeringFaculty of Engineering and Built Environment.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014

IMPLEMENTING SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE ROAD

TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

International Technical Conference (ITC 2014) Seoul, Korea , 17-19 November 2014

Hussin A.M Yahia

• Introduction• Facts• Background • Trend of road traffic accidents• Causes of traffic accidents in Libya - General causes - Specific causes• Remedial measures to improve traffic safety - Training and Education - Engineering and Planning - Enforcement - Campaigns and Publicity - Periodic Vehicle Inspection• Recommendations

Content

Introduction

• Traffic accidents are increasing every year, this problem the second cause of death in the world regarding the category of ages between 15 to 29 years;

• Third cause of death in the world for the category between 30 to 45 years; and

• More than 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents as well as more than 50 million injured or disabled.

Source: World Health Organization (2010).

Each year, approximately 1.3 million people die as a result of traffic accidents,

RTA are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 29 years,

Low- and middle-income countries have the lowest number of vehicles in the world, but 90% of the victims of traffic accidents are from these countries, and

Approximately 46% of vulnerable road users in the world, such as cyclists, pedestrians, and motorcycles, die on roads.

• Libya is an Arab country, located in the North Africa and in the south coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Figure 1);

• Populations are 6,5 million:• Private car number 2,242,385 (2010) increase

significantly in ownership of cars; and • Number of road traffic accidents by populations,

during the last ten years (1995-2010) (Table 1).

BACKGROUND

Figure 1: The location of Libya - Source (http://www.libyana.org/cities/index.htm).

Years Population Vehicles Fatalities Injuries Total accident

1995 4,399,000 109,750 1296 7703 8419

1996 4,516,000 134,750 1080 7750 8419

1997 4,645,000 165,771 1119 8076 9278

1998 4,778,000 203,575 1224 8343 9393

1999 4,914,000 411,543 1204 8394 9370

2000 5,125,000 675,257 1504 9617 10667

2001 5,300,000 809,056 1598 10033 10895

2002 5,485,000 1,008,528 1751 11058 12017

2003 5,679,000 1,126,901 1744 10502 12154

2004 5,883,000 1,225,704 1785 10746 11643

2005 6,098,000 1,310,530 1800 11541 11898

2006 5,324,000 1,508,359 1866 12164 11982

2007 5,422,000 1,826,533 2138 13497 13165

2008 5,466,000 2,052,679 2332 13725 13352

2009 6,400,000 2,342,536 2301 13851 13664

2010 6,561,000 2,424,385 2375 14025 15655

Table 1: Population, registered vehicles and traffic accident statistics in Libya (1995-2010)

Figure 2. Deaths of traffic accidents in 2009

Daily frequency of accidents for the entire days of the week in Tripoli city, as shown in Fig. 4, indicates that the highest percentage of accidents takes place on Wednesdays and Thursdays (weekend days in Libya) while the lowest percentage is during Monday.

Figure 4: Daily frequency of accidents in Tripoli

CAUSES OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN LIBYA

1. GENERAL CAUSES: A large increase in the number of vehicles and population

in major cities; National development projects which require the

development of supporting transport systems in major cities;

Increased number of expatriates and foreigners from different countries with different habits and culture who are unfamiliar with local driving; and

Concentration of population in major cities in turn led to the overcrowding and increase in accidents number.

2. SPECIFIC CAUSES

Most accidents occurred as a result of driver negligence and error.

Over 50% of the traffic accidents are due to excess speed and using mobile phones during driving and violation of signals at intersections.

Road safety and vehicle condition contribute in reducing from traffic accidents. DATA?

REMEDIAL MEASURES TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC SAFETY

The following remedial measures that can reduce traffic accidents and improve traffic safety in Tripoli.

• Training and educating drivers are a formidable means of effectively dealing with the problem of road accidents.

• Training, opening of driving Schools and retraining of operators of vehicles is a necessity.

• This measure is the best means to ensure that drivers who are entering in the system are endowed with the necessary skills.

Training and Education

Engineering and Planning

One of the significant contributing factors that lead to the road accidents is road quality. Thus, engineering improvements and the quality of the road can reduce the rate of accidents and help improve driver behavior.

• Enforcement is powerful tool for changing motorist behavior in the quickest way possible, as it bypasses the process of changing the attitude of the individual (Rothengatter, 1990).

• Traffic laws are promulgated of the government which wants to protect the users of the roads.

• These must be enforced and shall have the desired effects on all users of the road network.

• Previous studies have shown that countries where enforcement has been strict and adequately provided, ramifications were significantly reduced RTAs.

Enforcement

Campaigns and Publicity

Publicity campaigns increase awareness of drivers and help to change their behavior. These are transmitted by TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, the backs of buses, promotions by merchants, and other media. Must focus on television advertising because often the most visible component for citizens.

Periodic Vehicle Inspection

• Vehicles should always inspect as brake and lighting and should be designed such that drivers are able to see all directions as well as other vehicle motion.

• Vehicles should also be designed to offer ample protection and to minimize the injuries of the occupants and the pedestrians in the vicinity, the use of protective devices and restraint systems such as, air bags, seat belts headrests, helmets and child restraints.

RECOMMENDATIONS

- The government should improve general public transportation and regulate the import of foreign auto.

- Speeding is one of the main reasons for accidents in Libya, so must apply the law to those who drive their car at high speed.

- All media should be utilized to increase the traffic awareness among people and drivers and the dangers of traffic accidents.

- Benefit from the experiences of developed countries to reduce the risk of traffic accidents.

Pictures for: Traffic congestion and road accidents in Tripoli, Libya.