Browsing by Author "Alelign Berihun"

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    Investigation of Heavy Truck Crash on Freight Transport Corridor (Case study of Adama - Awash Road Segment)
    (Addis Ababa University, 2026-02) Alelign Berihun; Getu Segni
    Road traffic collisions remain a major global public health and transportation problem, with the burden particularly high in developing countries due to rapid motorization, mixed traffic, and infrastructure limitations. Heavy trucks, while essential for freight movement and economic growth, are frequently involved in severe crashes because of their size and weight. This study examines heavy truck crash severity and evaluates the safety performance of the 120 km Adama–Awash freight corridor, which carries about 90% of Ethiopia’s import export traffic and serves as a key link to the Djibouti port. The study has employed ordinal logistic regression for crash severity analysis and negative binomial regression and Empirical Bayes (EB) method for frequency modeling for safety performance evaluation respectively. Secondary crash data for the period of five years (2019-2023) were collected from Traffic Police, and Road geometric, AADT and pavement condition data were collected from a government office. Crash outcome was used as the dependent variable, while Driver Characteristics, Vehicle-Related Factors, Road Geometry and Pavement Conditions, and Environmental and Spatial Conditions were included as independent variables. Point Biserial correlation and collinearity diagnostics have also been determined to assess the relationships among the independent variables. And the ordinal logistic regression model results indicate that younger drivers ((18–24 years)) (β = 0.824), drivers who has below 5 years’ experience (β = 0.6392,), articulated trailers trucks (β = 0.6082), Pedestrian crashes (β = 2.9614), head-on crashes (β = 2.4742, ), and Rollover crashes (β = 1.2041), dry surfaces asphalt (β= 1.0426), Good weather condition ( (β = 1.2141), drivers while moving straight (β= 1.0015) and overtaking (β= 1.35)has associated with severe crashes. Finally, road safety was assessed using Empirical Bayes (EB) weights and high-risk hotspots identified, and the results revealed that approximately 45–50% of the total corridor length performed worse than expected. severe crashes and higher crash frequency were mainly caused by factors related to drivers' behavior rather than environmental factors. Therefore, strengthened speed management, targeted enforcement, safety measures are recommended.