Reduce traffic accidents

1. International Technical Conference (ITC 2014)
Seoul, Korea , 17-19 November 2014
IMPLEMENTING SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS
TO REDUCE ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
Hussin A.M Yahia
Sustainable Urban Transport Research Center (SUTRA)
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2014

2. Content
• Introduction
• Facts
• Background
• Trend of road traffic accidents
• Causes of traffic accidents in Libya
- General causes
- Specific causes
• Remedial measures to improve traffic safety
- Training and Education
- Engineering and Planning
- Enforcement
- Campaigns and Publicity
- Periodic Vehicle Inspection
• Recommendations

3. Introduction
• Traffic accidents are increasing every year, this problem
the second cause of death in the world regarding the
category of ages between 15 to 29 years;
• Third cause of death in the world for the category
between 30 to 45 years; and
• More than 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents as
well as more than 50 million injured or disabled.
Source:World Health Organization (2010).

4. Each year, approximately 1.3 million people die as a result
of traffic accidents,
RTA are the leading cause of death for people between the
ages of 15 and 29 years,
Low- and middle-income countries have the lowest number
of vehicles in the world, but 90% of the victims of traffic
accidents are from these countries, and
Approximately 46% of vulnerable road users in the world,
such as cyclists, pedestrians, and motorcycles, die on roads.

5. BACKGROUND
• Libya is an Arab country, located in the North
Africa and in the south coast of the Mediterranean
Sea (Figure 1);
• Populations are 6,5 million:
• Private car number 2,242,385 (2010) increase
significantly in ownership of cars; and
• Number of road traffic accidents by populations,
during the last ten years (1995-2010) (Table 1).

6. Figure 1: The location of Libya - Source (http://www.libyana.org/cities/index.htm).

7. Table 1: Population, registered vehicles and traffic accident statistics in Libya (1995-2010)
Years Population Vehicles Fatalities Injuries Total accident
1995 4,399,000 109,750 1296 7703 8419
1996 4,516,000 134,750 1080 7750 8419
1997 4,645,000 165,771 1119 8076 9278
1998 4,778,000 203,575 1224 8343 9393
1999 4,914,000 411,543 1204 8394 9370
2000 5,125,000 675,257 1504 9617 10667
2001 5,300,000 809,056 1598 10033 10895
2002 5,485,000 1,008,528 1751 11058 12017
2003 5,679,000 1,126,901 1744 10502 12154
2004 5,883,000 1,225,704 1785 10746 11643
2005 6,098,000 1,310,530 1800 11541 11898
2006 5,324,000 1,508,359 1866 12164 11982
2007 5,422,000 1,826,533 2138 13497 13165
2008 5,466,000 2,052,679 2332 13725 13352
2009 6,400,000 2,342,536 2301 13851 13664
2010 6,561,000 2,424,385 2375 14025 15655

8. Figure 2. Deaths of traffic accidents in 2009

9. Daily frequency of accidents for the entire days of the week in
Tripoli city, as shown in Fig. 4, indicates that the highest
percentage of accidents takes place on Wednesdays and
Thursdays (weekend days in Libya) while the lowest percentage
is during Monday.
Figure 4: Daily frequency of accidents in Tripoli

10. CAUSES OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN LIBYA

11. 1. GENERAL CAUSES:
 A large increase in the number of vehicles and population
in major cities;
 National development projects which require the
development of supporting transport systems in major
cities;
 Increased number of expatriates and foreigners from
different countries with different habits and culture who
are unfamiliar with local driving; and
 Concentration of population in major cities in turn led to
the overcrowding and increase in accidents number.

12. 2. SPECIFIC CAUSES
 Most accidents occurred as a result of driver
negligence and error.
 Over 50% of the traffic accidents are due to excess
speed and using mobile phones during driving and
violation of signals at intersections.
 Road safety and vehicle condition contribute in
reducing from traffic accidents. DATA?

13. REMEDIAL MEASURES TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC SAFETY
The following remedial measures that can reduce traffic
accidents and improve traffic safety in Tripoli.
Training and Education
• Training and educating drivers are a formidable means of
effectively dealing with the problem of road accidents.
• Training, opening of driving Schools and retraining of
operators of vehicles is a necessity.
• This measure is the best means to ensure that drivers who
are entering in the system are endowed with the
necessary skills.

14. Engineering and Planning
One of the significant contributing factors that lead to the
road accidents is road quality. Thus, engineering
improvements and the quality of the road can reduce the
rate of accidents and help improve driver behavior.

15. Enforcement
• Enforcement is powerful tool for changing motorist behavior
in the quickest way possible, as it bypasses the process of
changing the attitude of the individual (Rothengatter, 1990).
• Traffic laws are promulgated of the government which wants
to protect the users of the roads.
• These must be enforced and shall have the desired effects on
all users of the road network.
• Previous studies have shown that countries where
enforcement has been strict and adequately provided,
ramifications were significantly reduced RTAs.

16. Campaigns and Publicity
Publicity campaigns increase awareness of
drivers and help to change their behavior.
These are transmitted by TV, radio,
magazines, newspapers, the backs of buses,
promotions by merchants, and other media.
Must focus on television advertising because
often the most visible component for
citizens.

17. Periodic Vehicle Inspection
• Vehicles should always inspect as brake and lighting and
should be designed such that drivers are able to see all
directions as well as other vehicle motion.
• Vehicles should also be designed to offer ample protection
and to minimize the injuries of the occupants and the
pedestrians in the vicinity, the use of protective devices and
restraint systems such as, air bags, seat belts headrests,
helmets and child restraints.

18. RECOMMENDATIONS
- The government should improve general public
transportation and regulate the import of foreign auto.
- Speeding is one of the main reasons for accidents in Libya,
so must apply the law to those who drive their car at
high speed.
- All media should be utilized to increase the traffic
awareness among people and drivers and the dangers of
traffic accidents.
- Benefit from the experiences of developed countries to
reduce the risk of traffic accidents.

19. Pictures for:
Traffic congestion and road accidents in Tripoli, Libya.