ROAD SAFETY AUDIT AND EVALUATION FOR CITIES

Abstract

Every day thousands of people meet with accidents on roads and out of them many succumb to injuries or suffer permanent disability. According to a survey if you are walking on a road, your chances of sustaining an injury is eight times higher than when you are at home. According to WHO, 1.2 million people worldwide die in road accidents each year. Deaths from all types of injuries projected to increase from 5.1 million in 1990 to 8.4 million in 2020. Indian transport system is rated as one of the most accident prone system with more than 14 accidents per thousand vehicles every year. Nearly 80,000 people die of road traffic accidents and 1,60,000 people become partially or totally disabled every year in India. Increased traffic and badly maintained pavements are making life for pedestrians a nightmare. Road safety audit is a process in which experts try to identify potentially dangerous features in the highway environment. Safety audit methodology can be used successfully to minimize the risk and severity of accidents in developing countries like India. This paper highlights an attempt to propose a methodology for conducting Road safety audit and evaluation for a city. The expert opinion on road accidents has been taken for developing the road safety evaluation procedure and checklists for conducting the Road safety audit.