Essay on Necessity to Obey Traffic Laws

Consequences of Violating Traffic Laws

Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) or crashes can be defined as accidents involving at least one vehicle on a road open to public traffic in which at least one person, pedestrian, driver, or road user is killed or injured.

Road safety measures can be defined as the methods and measures used to prevent users from being killed or injured while using the road (G.N. Maina and I.N.W. Towey, 2020).

Safety, according to The Highway Safety Manual (HSM), is defined as the crash frequency and crash severity, and collision type for a specific time period, a given location, and a given set of geometric and operational conditions (AASHTO, 2010). According to the Global Status report on road safety 2018 by the World Health Organization (WHO), fatalities emanating from road accidents have increased to 1.3 million per year. Of those killed, the majority are pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists who often are vulnerable road users. A report by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA, 2020) shows that road crashes claimed the lives of 3114 persons as of 31st October 2020 compared to a similar period in 2019 where 2942 lives were lost.

To understand road safety, one must understand crashes. Crashes are used in the evaluation of roadway safety. Characteristics of crashes such as crash severity and crash frequency must be well understood as they form an essential part of evaluating the safety of roadway facilities.

This section, therefore, reviews the causes of crashes, prevention methods that can be used, rates of crashes, crash severity, and crash frequency.

Causes of traffic crashes

• Causes of road traffic accidents can be divided into; General causes and Specific causes (Ansari, 2000). The general causes include;
• Increased number of expatriates from different countries who are not familiar with the local driving conditions and requirements.
• A large increase in vehicle capacity and road expansions within and between the cities.
• Large development projects require the development of supporting transport systems. (M.B Ratemo, 2015)

Studies show that drivers ignore traffic laws (Odero et al., 2003; WHO, 2004) and pedestrians routinely walk in the middle of the streets and cross without checking for traffic or traffic signals. it is however noted that law violations and errors by drivers are in the lead with more than 90% of all highway accidents arising from this. In developing countries, drivers develop dangerous habits and their observation of traffic regulations is poor (Pludemmann et al., 2004; Gururaj, 2004).

There are three categories of factors that contribute to crashes (AASHTO, 2010): Human factors, Vehicle, and Roadway factors. The main cause of RTAs and crashes is due to human errors. Some of the common human behaviors that lead to accidents in Kenya are;

Over-speeding - an increase in driving speed by drivers multiplies the risk of an accident occurring and the severity of the injuries that emerge from such accidents. The ability of the driver to judge properly the forthcoming events gets reduced which leads to errors and final crashes with high impacts therefore more injuries. The higher the vehicle speed, the higher the risk of accidents and the severity of injuries.

Red light jumping - the main reason for red light jumping is to save time. In Kenya, it is common in some places for drivers to cross without caring about the traffic lights at intersections.

Distraction to drivers - the major distraction to drivers nowadays is talking on phones while driving. Some other destructions include; radio music in vehicles, banners, and advertisements on the roadsides, adjusting mirrors while driving, etc.

Drunken driving - alcohol reduces the concentration level of humans and their reaction times as well as hampering the vision of the user, and driver. It also incites a person to take unnecessary risks such as speeding and overtaking among others, all of which can result in road accidents.

Roadway and environmental factors that lead to road traffic accidents include; merging roads, potholes, illegal speed breakers, damaged roads, diversions, heavy rainfall, snow, fog, and storms.

Vehicle factors include tire bursts, overloading, wide and projecting loads, long vehicles, failure of breaks, insufficient or no headlights, etc.

The Handbook of Road Safety Measures provides valuable insight into understanding the concept of crash causes. The Handbook states 'the logic of the argument that you need to know the causes of a problem in order to solve it seems irresistible. Therefore, the complexity of known and unknown contributing factors can be overcome through the development and use of proper statistical tools that correctly model behaviors and characteristics of crashes.

Intervention measures

The key to safe road infrastructure design is the consistency of standards so that road users do not encounter unexpected situations. In Kenya, several road safety policies and interventions have been implemented. The purpose of these policies is to assist all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in developing and implementing effective road safety policies to promote safety on roads and prevent and manage road crashes and fatalities in Kenya.

There are three broad categories of interventions (M. Gupta et al, B. Souvik, 2020)

1. Road Engineering; these are preventive measures involving engineering changes to road design that affect road users. These interventions include changes in intersections, segregation of non-motorized road users from motorized vehicles, and reduction in vehicle speed, maintenance, and improvement of existing road infrastructure to enhance road safety.
2. Enforcement of traffic laws; refers to setting up road safety rules and ensuring compliance from road users through legal enforcement. In Kenya, such enforcements include, traffic signal regulations, stop signs, speed limits, cameras, speed zones, mandatory helmet laws, etc.
3. Combination of Road Engineering, Regulatory and Legislative Interventions; these interventions include road markings involving specific road changes at junctions and intersections, bus rapid transit system, speed limit enforcement and speed reduction measures.

There are three main types of countermeasure implementation approaches according to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA):

1. Systematic Approach-The basis for the systematic approach is not on specific crash locations, but on crash types and proven low-cost safety countermeasures.
2. Spot Location Approach- The approach has typically been based on an analysis of crash location history. It could be applied to those locations that have had low-cost countermeasures installed systematically, but continue to show a higher-than-average crash rate.
3. Comprehensive Approach- The approach introduces the concept of the '4 E's of Safety': Engineering; Enforcement; Education; and Emergency Medical Services. This approach recognizes that not all locations can be addressed solely by infrastructure improvements.

According to the NTSA Edition II report on road safety policy guidelines for government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in Kenya to support road safety mainstreaming in 2020, some of the road safety policies put in place include;

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Road safety education and public awareness; to improve road safety knowledge and awareness amongst the general public through media, print, TV, etc.

Youth empowerment policy targeting Boda Boda riders; to offer support to the Boda Boda transport sector by sponsoring rider pieces of training and public awareness campaigns.

Training transporters on compliance with safety regulations; to increase knowledge of road safety. This is achieved by conducting periodic safety audits on compliance with their internal road safety.

Road Safety Audits; to improve road safety on all roads around the country through the implementation of rad audits reports, assessments on existing roads, and audits on road designs.

Safe Road PPE standards Policies; to enhance the safety of all road safety Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) that enter the country, used by motorists, and passengers. Such activities include the development and implementation of Vehicle Safety Standards Programs. (Source – NTSA, Edition II, 2020)

Crash Rates

Crash rate analysis takes into account the exposure data in form of traffic volumes, normally expressed in Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) or roadway mileage, and is calculated to determine relative safety compared to other similar roadways, intersections, or segments.

Although the crash rate method is simple to use in assessing the safety of a location, it also has some shortcomings. The method is biased towards low-volume sites and requires volume data that are not easy to obtain, the severity of the accidents is not considered and regression to the mean is not addressed. The method also assumes that the frequency of crashes and traffic volumes have a linear relationship (AASHTO).

The method improves upon the average crash frequency in that it normalizes the frequency of the crashes with the exposure, as measured in traffic. It, therefore, provides an improved yardstick for comparison between sites or locations of the roadway.

The general relationship between crash frequency and crash rates can be given by the following equation (Roess, 2004).

Crash rate =Total Crash FrequencyAverage Exposure Equation 2.1

To calculate the crash rate of a roadway segment, the following formula is used (AASHTO);

R=A -1000000L -V-365 Equation 2.2

Where:

• R - Crash Rate expressed in crashes per Million Vehicle Miles Traveled (MVMT).
• V - Average Daily Traffic Volume along the roadway.
• L - Length of the roadway segment in miles.
• A - Average number of crashes along the study roadway per year.

To calculate the crash rate of a roadway intersection, the following formula is used (AASHTO);

R=A -1000000V -365 Equation 2.3

Where:

• R - Crash Rate expressed as crashes per Million Entering Vehicles (MEV).
• A - Average number of crashes at the study location per year.
• V - Intersection ADT (total daily approach volume).

(Source - http:www.crpc-la.org)

Crash Frequency

Crash frequency analysis is one of the simplest forms of crash data analysis and can be defined as the number of crashes occurring within a specific jurisdiction, on a roadway segment, or at an intersection of the roads over a given period, typically three to five years, as described in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Crash frequency is an attractive quantitative screening technique because the only data required are crashes and their physical locations where they occurred. Other data like traffic volume and roadway features are not necessarily required, therefore making it relatively quick and easy to use.

However, the method does have shortcomings. The method does not take traffic volumes into account as higher volume locations are likely to have more crashes than lower volume locations, therefore an intrinsic bias toward higher volume locations. It also does not account for the natural variation in crash frequency that occurs at any given site while on an annual basis, the number of crashes at a site will fluctuate up and down. Regression to the mean - the tendency for a site to experience a period with a comparatively high crash frequency followed by a period with comparatively low crash frequency - must also be accounted for.

References

1. Gichaga, F. J. The Impact of road improvements on road safety and related characteristics. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from. https:doi.org10.1016j.iatssr.2016.05.002.
2. Manyara C.G. (2016) Combating Road Traffic Accidents in Kenya: A Challenge for an Emerging Economy. In: Koster M.M., Kithinji M.M., Rotich J.P. (eds) Kenya After 50. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https:doi.org10.10579781137574633_7.