Overview
Abstract
Road traffic accidents are the tragic artificial disease from which more than thousands of people are injured and die of each year. Various corporate and government agencies have in the past implemented various strategies to tackle this problem. However, owing to the inaccurate road accident statistics and the inefficient data collection method on cause and collision particularly, on potential and existing black spots, improvement of road safety remains a great challenge. Road survey/mapping as a tool investigates and seeks to identify and collect data on existing and potential black spot locations.
Introduction
While the road safety improvements around the world have been seriously carried out, i.e., control of drunk driving, the mandatory use of child-restraint devices, seat belts and helmets, and improvements in passive protection, such as airbags, and black spot programs have further reduced the number of deaths and the severity of injury road traffic accidents; in Africa there are rising continually with no indication of efficient improvements.
In the highly motorized countries, the occupants of cars are the primary victims of traffic accidents whereas in the developing, newly motorizing countries in Africa, the majority of deaths and injuries are sustained by vulnerable road users i.e., pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycle and scooter riders, and passengers on public transportation. These vulnerable road users travel together on the same roads with buses, trucks, and cars, in a chaotic traffic. Mismatched collisions between the unprotected humans and the heavy vehicles cause frequent death and serious injury, even at lower speeds. To impact drivers with effective road use, and industry’s best practices hazard mapping and driver notes on frequent routes is vital.
Final Note
The objective of road mapping is to raise traffic safety awareness among the drivers on the identified route by pre-arming them with cautionary measures on the potential hazard on the road.
The study further aims to investigate/identify potential hazards and the possibility to adopt public participation in the same in creating easy drivers instructions for use by the group’s drivers.