Road Safety Analysis and Evaluation of Safety Risks of a Selected Section of Highway in India

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1 Road Safety Analysis and Evaluation of Safety Risks of a Selected Section of Highway in India Aakriti Gahlawat 1, Ranadip Mandal 2 1 M. Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, CBS Group of Institutions, Jhajjar, Haryana 2 Asst. Professor (Civil Engineering), CBS Group of Institutions, Jhajjar, Haryana ABSTRACT The main objective of this research was to assess potential safety hazards of Delhi-Rohtak Highway using road safety auditing approach and to recommend possible options for remedial treatment. At first existing Guidelines for Road Safety Audit, 2005 of Roads and Highways Department (RHD), India is reviewed and guidelines of developed countries are analyzed to find out deficiencies of RHD guidelines. Checklists provided with RHD guidelines are also analyzed and design standards and guidelines of other countries are studied to develop a more detailed and complete checklists. Then using the modified checklists, road safety auditing was conducted for Delhi-Rohtak highway. Accident data was collected to supplement audit findings. Attempts were made to assess the safety hazard scenario and to suggest likely remedial measures in view of the construction of proposed Padma Bridge, rapid urbanization and implementation of 4-laning project. In order to achieve the objectives of the research work, various guidelines on road safety audit, design standards, as built drawings, proposed road alignment plan and related publications were consulted. A total of 13 field visits were made to observe possible hazards through conducting highway geometric study, site specific speed studies, vehicular and pedestrian counts etc. Local traffic conditions were critically observed during the whole study. Besides, a total of 11 visits were made to collect accident data from 5 police stations. Keywords: road, safety, risk, hazards, highway. INTRODUCTION Road safety is a global socio-economic concern. In developing countries accident rates and fatalities are alarmingly higher. A research undertaken for road accident cost studies in India during by Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) of UK concluded that, the overall national cost estimated for road accidents is Taka 39 billion, which is about 1.5% of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There exist two types of internationally recognized engineering approaches to counter road safety problem- the Proactive and the Reactive approach. In many countries, adoption of reactive approach could not gain significant success due to the absence of standard requirements needed for such approach (RHD, 2005). Road safety audit is a formal examination of a future road or traffic project or an existing road, in which an independent, qualified team reports on the project s crash potential and safety performance. Road safety audit is relatively new and highly cost-effective tool for accident prevention. It is applicable both for new projects and exiting roads. A safety audit is carried out at discrete stages of road development projects (AUSTROADS, 2002). The application of safety audit principle has considerable potential of rapidly improving the deteriorated safety situation, and could contribute significantly to improving the long-term safety at marginal cost (Hoque, 2004). Road safety audits are both effective and cost beneficial as a proactive safety improvement tool. For example, a Surrey County, United Kingdom, study found that after implementation the average number of fatal and injury crashes at project sites that were audited fell by 1.25 crashes per year (from 2.08 to 0.83 crashes per year) (FHWA, 2006). India Government also emphasized its commitment to reducing accident rates and speeding up the implementation of accident prevention measures (MOC, 2004). According to RHD (2005), road safety audit is not a one-off action rather it is an iterative action for continuous safety improvement of road environment. The process of road safety audit can play a vital part in achieving safer roads. Failure to adopt the process runs the risk that avoidable defects on the road will not be discovered and that the defects will cause accidents (Ogden, 2002). FHWA (2006) states that road safety audits are proactive as they can identify where crashes will likely occur and what will be their resultant severity. Crash data, if available, should be used to supplement any findings made as a result of the site visit and review of project data. AUSTROADS (2002) holds the view that in developing countries, due to the non-availability of accurate accident records road safety audit of existing roads provide the opportunity to obtain a more balanced view of where crash problems are and in what order they should be treated. 34

2 Justification for the Study Road safety audit is of particular importance in India because basic national road networks we are still being developed/ upgraded. Here, the focus should be on the most important national strategic roads which are of considerable safety concern. In India, many roadway design features can significantly affect accident experiences and these elements can be modified to reduce accident rates. In addition to modifying the elements, sensible design alternatives could also be considered to enhance safety. Furthermore, considering peculiarity of local users with large mix of non-motorized vehicles, agricultural traffic, non-standard vehicles, pedestrians and the many problems associated with street vendors and encroachment, appropriate changes can be recommended in the road safety audit process (Hoque, 2005). In India, at national highways, road accidents are occurring very frequently. A study conducted on Delhi Aricha highway reported total 1922 accidents during observation period of which 60% are fatal (Muniruzzaman, 2004). In 2008, a total of 2723 fatal accidents were reported in the country where accident rate was per 10,000 populations (BRTA, 2008). Reports from Daily Newspapers indicates occurrence of many fatal accidents in the hazardous road locations in the national highways of India. Particularly, in Delhi-Rohtak highway, the accident situation is so serious that according to local Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials, as a symptom oriented reactive measure all together 40 speed breakers are installed within 31 km road segment from Keraniganj to Rohtak. Installation of these speed breakers on high speed road is not a prescribed solution. It is perceived that many of these accidents and casualties could have been prevented by implementing simple, systematic, and cost effective safety measures. So far, no scientific approach was followed to identify the safety deficiencies of Delhi-Rohtak highway. LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, at first, basing on the literatures/ manuals of various developed countries, some basic fundamentals about road safety auditing is highlighted. Existing Guidelines for Road Safety Audit of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) was then discussed. Guidelines of various developed countries such as Australia, USA, UK and Ireland was critically analyzed to identify important aspects which are missed in RHD guidelines. The abovementioned discussion/analysis helped in the review of existing guidelines of RHD. Discussion on some important aspects i.e. interrelation between functional classification, access control and different transport mode, trauma management, school safety practices, enforcement etc. was made which helped in the development/modification of checklists. Relevance of accident statistics with road safety audit was highlighted. Literatures related to Padma Bridge, rapid urbanization and four-lane highway were analyzed to understand future impacts on road safety. Some Basic Fundamentals about Road Safety Auditing Road Safety Audit has its origins in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, following the development of Accident investigation and Prevention (AIP) techniques and the requirement of successive legislation for highway authorities to take steps to reduce the possibility of accidents on their roads. AIP teams, from initially investigating problems on existing roads with great success, turned their attention to preventing accidents on new road schemes. Formal processes were developed and in 1990 the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT) published its guidelines for the safety audit of highways. Keen interest in road safety audit in New Zealand and Australia through the 1990s has now been followed by interest in parts of Europe, North America, Asia and Southern Africa (AUSTROADS, 2002). In India, as a mandatory manual, Guidelines for Road safety Audit was introduced in May, 2005 (RHD, 2005). Well-documented experience in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere shows that road safety audits are both effective and cost beneficial as a proactive safety improvement tool. Experience with road safety audits in the United States indicates that road safety audit teams often identify safety concerns that would not otherwise have been discovered by a traditional safety review. For example, New York Department of Transportation reports a 20% to 40% reduction in crashes at more than 300 high-crash locations treated with low-cost improvements recommended as a result of road safety audits. These safety improvements resulting from road safety audits can be achieved at a relatively low cost and with minimal project delay (FHWA, 2006). In subsequent articles, some basic fundamentals are discussed to gain comprehensive knowledge on road safety auditing. 35

3 Road Safety Audit is a Part of a Road Safety Strategy Road safety audit should be viewed as part of an overall strategy to reduce accident risk. A road authority committed to road safety will include an accident remedial program (the treatment of crash locations), routine road safety audits of new road and traffic designs, existing roads, and maintenance programs in its road safety plan (AUSTROADS, 2002). Road Safety Audits represent an additional tool within the suite of tools that currently make up a multidisciplinary safety management system aimed at improving safety. As such, Road Safety Audits are not a replacement for design quality control or standard compliance checks, traffic impact or safety impact studies, safety conscious planning, road safety inventory programs, traffic safety modeling efforts (FHWA, 2006). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION The main objective of this research was to identify the safety deficiencies and accident potential and recommend the cost effective appropriate remedial measures for the overall safety improvement of Delhi-Rohtak Highway following Road Safety Auditing process. Though Roads and Highways Department s (RHD) guidelines on road safety auditing were introduced in 2005, but hardly any systematic auditing of a highway is undertaken. Again existing RHD guidelines do not give comprehensive idea as to the mechanism and procedures of safety auditing. To achieve the objective, the challenges that the researcher came across are: determination of a clear methodology for auditing, development/ modification of checklists suiting local peculiarities, carrying out safety auditing basing on modified checklists, collection of crash data and matching with audit findings, visualization of the impacts of future construction of Padma Bridge, rapid urbanization and possible conversion to four-lane divided highway. It was necessary to develop a workable methodology to address the abovementioned challenges. Research Methodology Research methodology followed in this research consists of a variety of approach. It was necessary to develop sufficient knowledge not only in road safety audit but also on road safety engineering, accident investigation, traffic management, highway design standards, road user behavior, enforcement, maintenance, local knowledge etc. Initial field visits (02 days), observation of local specialties, study of RHD and other developed countries guidelines, design standards and related literatures helped in the review of Guidelines for Road Safety Audit of RHD, India and development / modification of checklists. Instead of a team, the audit was conducted by the researcher under the guidance of the learned supervisor using modified checklists. After collecting necessary background information, data was reviewed. A good number of site visits/ field reviews (11 days including night inspection) were carried out. Basing on collected data and field observation, analysis was carried out to organize audit findings. Road safety audit report was then written identifying safety hazards and suggesting remedial measures. Crash/ accident data was collected from concerned police stations (visits were made on 11 days to police stations), BRTA data base, and Accident Research institute (ARI), BUET, analyzed and matched to supplement audit findings. Basing on published literatures and field visits and considering existing safety hazards, local trends and peculiarities, attempts were made to visualize the impacts of future construction of Bridges, rapid urbanization and possible conversion to four-lane divided highway. Undertaking Safety Audit and Future Impacts Road safety auditing is conducted to identify potential hazards along this highway. Checklists modified in the previous chapter are used to aid the auditing. The finding and recommendations are written in prose, style. Findings are based on collected data, field observation and analytical approach. Recommendations prescribe general, short, mid and long term solutions. As the audit is part of a research work, standard contents of an audit report (suggested by AUSTROADS and Roads and Highways Department (RHD) guidelines) is not followed. Later on, accident data is analyzed to supplement audit findings (safety concerns) identified in the audit report. The observations and suggestions are related to existing two-lane national highway i.e. Delhi- Rohtak Highway (N8) which is planned to be converted to a four-lane divided highway and would also have the impacts resulting from likely construction of Padma Bridge and is experiencing the effects of rapid urbanization at this segment of the highway. In this chapter, attempts are also made to address these issues. 36

4 Road Alignment and Cross Section The sight distance along the road is inadequate or restricted when plantation on the edges of embankments; especially at the inner edge of horizontal curves obstruct the sightlines to stationary objects or oncoming vehicles. At the straight sections, visibility and sight distance is restricted at built-up areas / bazaars/ bus-stands due to parked vehicles and road side developments and activities. Sight triangles at junctions are restricted due to road-side shops. Inadequate sight distance results in a shorter reaction and response time available to the driver when the change is sighted which results in a higher crash risk. Besides, due to obstructed longitudinal sight distance drivers assume continuation of the present conditions, though alignment changes or traffic hazards suddenly appear. Fig.1: sight distance at a curve on delhi rohtak road Fig.2: Restricted sight triangle due to corner shops in city 37

5 Short Term: Low-cost measures such as plantation of low-height trees at curves, banning of illegal parking and non-motor roadside activities are recommended to be adopted to address inadequate sight distance and to mitigate safety hazards. At built-up areas / bazaars/ bus-stands and junctions, obstructions to sight distance are to be removed. CONCLUSION In this study attempts are made to assess safety hazards of a selected highway section of India i.e. Delhi-Rohtak Highway using road safety auditing approach. At first existing Guidelines for Road Safety Audit, 2005 of Roads and Highways Department (RHD), India is reviewed and guidelines of developed countries are analyzed to include important aspects which are missed out in RHD guidelines. The aim was to make the guidelines an effective tool for road safety auditing purposes. Checklists provided with RHD guidelines are analyzed, design standards and guidelines of other countries are studied to modify/develop more detailed and comprehensive checklists. Then with this modified checklists road safety auditing of Delhi-Rohtak highway was conducted to identify existing and potential safety hazards. Basing on audit findings, short/mid/long term and low/high cost remedial measures were suggested in the audit report. Accident data was collected from concerned police stations, analyzed and matched to supplement audit findings and to augment recommendations. In order to achieve the objectives of the research work, various guidelines on road safety audit, design standards, drawings, and related publications were consulted. A total of 13 field visits were conducted to observe possible hazards. On various occasions, roadway alignment and geometric measurement, field studies, field survey; both vehicular and pedestrian etc. were carried out. Day and night time inspection, use of photographs and video-taping, interview etc. were also undertaken. Altogether 11 visits were made to concerned police stations to collect accident data. Besides, local conditions were taken into consideration during the whole study. REFERENCES [1]. Feasibility Study of Padma Bridge in the People s Republic of India, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Jamuna Multipurpose bridge Authority (JMBA), March [2]. FHWA, Summary Report on Safety Effects of the Conversion of Rural Two-Lane Roadways to Four-Lane Roadways, by Forrest M. Council and J. Richard Stewart, November [3]. FHWA Road Safety Audit Guidelines, 2006, guidelines/, pp v, 1, 47 and 49, Accessed on 20 May [4]. Hoque M. M., The Road to Road Safety: Issues and Initiatives in India, Regional Health Forum, Vol- 8, No. 1, p 45, [5]. Hoque M. M., Introduction, Relevance and Conduct of Road safety Audit, Training Courses on Road Safety ( Module- 2), Department of Civil Engineering & Accident Research Centre, India University of Engineering and Technology, July, [6]. Hossain, S, Rapid Urban Growth and Poverty in Delhi City, India e-journal of Sociology, Volume 5 Number 1, January [7]. Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Ministry of Communication, India, Guidelines for Road Safety Audit, pp 2-4, 8 and 29, May [8]. Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Ministry of Communication, India, Geometric Design Standards Manual (Revised), June, 2005 [9]. Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Ministry of Communication, India, Road Safety Improvement Works Manual, May, [10]. Southwest Road Network Development Project (SRNDP), Contract No. 1 (Delhi-Rohtak Road), As Built Drawing, RHD 38