Run-off-The Road Crash Severity and Crash Severity-Based Black Spot Identification in Oromia Region, East Wallega Zone
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Date
2017-12
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AAU
Abstract
Statistics clearly demonstrate that run-off-the road crashes contribute to a significant
percentage of high-severity crashes. It is therefore important for the highway safety community
to identify the characteristics and contributory causes of these types of crashes. This paper
assesses the trends, causes, and severity of run-off-the road traffic accidents and black spot
identification by weight severity index method on rural road of East Wallega Oromia regeion
Ethiopia. Despite efforts made by various stakeholders to reduce the massacre on country
roads, road traffic accidents have been a serious health problem issue in the country and the
most severed accident are caused when vehicle run-off-the road and a vehicle that leaves its
travel lane at a non-intersection location and collides with another vehicle or with a fixed
object or overturns is considered to be involved in a run-off-road crash. The study used data
on road traffic accidents for the period 2005-2008 E.C and data were obtained from East
Wallega Police Commission and the data obtained is totally of 374 out of this about 187 of
them are ROR crashes and data has been analyzed using descriptive statistics or Bayesian
statistic equation approach/model for identifying the primary contributing factor associated with
run-off-the road crashes (ROR). The most frequently identified contributing factor among the
ROR events from the model are excessive speeding/exciding speed limit, fatigue, distraction,
sleeping of driver and tire blow out and brake are out of control, while wrong side driving, too
fast for condition and loss distance, improper turning, motor problem and strapping are more
related with NROR crashes. Further the study describes that the degree of hazardousness of a
given rural road section/stretch has been directly associated with the availability of risk
indicating on the road such as surface type, geographic location, volume of vehicle on the road
and traffic factors. The study finding shows that human errors mainly drivers' behavior and
actions are found as the major cause of road traffic accident in Ethiopia. So that to reduce
fatalities and injuries on the roads, the paper recommends that road safety policy and law
enforcement; capacity building, education, and awareness creation; and cooperation and
integration between and/or among all transport stakeholders should be the focus of the
government as well as the responsibility of every individual living in the country.
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Keywords
Road Crash Severity, Crash Severity, Black Spot Identification, East Wallega Zone