KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

Name : NURUL HUDA BINTI MUHAMAD FAUZI

Matrics number: BK16110267

ASSIGNMENT ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY

The traffic accident is a major concern in your city. Therefore you as a traffic
engineer consultant are requested to prepare one proposal on how to manage road
traffic safety to the local authority. In your report, please clarify 10 main factors
which contributed to the traffic accidents and 10 details steps that should be taken to
mitigate the accidents towards sustainable traffic.
 KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING (HK01)

HK01 CIVIL ENGINEERING

KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

PROPOSAL REPORT: ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY

 KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

Name : Nurul Huda binti Muhamad Fauzi

H/P No. : 017-2103812

Email : nhuda1572@gmail.com

Table of Contents

Background...........................................................................................................................................

Problem Statement.............................................................................................................................

Objectives ..............................................................................................................................................

Methodology .........................................................................................................................................
 KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

Result and Discussion .......................................................................................................................

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................

Appendices/Reference.......................................................................................................................
 KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

Background

Road safety is a collective responsibility that requires the involvement of government,

civil society as well as businesses from both the public and private sector. However,
despite the impact of poor road safety on societies and economics around the world
resulting in an annual loss of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the order of 2% to 5%,
only a limited number of countries follow coordinated approaches to road safety
management. Unfortunately, the countries that suffer the most are those in need in
development. Each year, road accidents resulted in a total of 1.24 million people lost
their lives and injuries between 20 and 50 million people worldwide. Road accidents
have been identified as the eighth leading cause of death and a leading cause of death
among young people between the ages of 15 to 29 years. According to the Road
Safety Report by the World Health Organization, Malaysia recorded 25 deaths per
100,000 population which is among the world’s highest figure, compared to a regional
figure of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 population.

Problem statement

Malaysia is one of an established dynamic and progressive middle income country of

Southeast Asia experiencing rapid growth in economic, motorization and
industrialization. The rapidly increasing number of vehicles lead to a higher risk
exposure to road accidents despite the upgrading of the infrastructure, the construction
of new roads and highways and the proactive actions taken to create better road safety
conditions and results. Also, the institutional road safety management worldwide and
primarily in LMIC (Low Middle Income Country) has been weak, leading to failure to
reduce road traffic accidents in the country. It has been stated that there is a
correlation between amount of investment in road safety and its positive impact and
that many countries have failed to ensure that road safety plans are delivered
successfully since they have been forced to cut down their road safety actions because
of lack of funding and weak commitment form the stakeholders. These findings
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LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

further supported by a study by Batool et.al., who found that in LMICs, governments
tend to value road safety low, and, as a result, the budget road safety is compromised
whenever the government reduce their yearly spending. Therefore, consultancies
parties required to provide suggestion on how to manage the road traffic safety to the
local authority.

Objective

Below are the finding purposes of this research:

 To determine the main factors which contributed to the traffic accidents

 To clarify the details steps that should be taken to mitigate the accidents towards
sustainable traffic.

Methodology

The main approach in recognizing on how to manage road traffic safety to the local
authority is by conducting a review based on secondary sources. Secondary sources
are the information collected by a party not related to the research study but collected
these data for some other purpose and at different time in the past. Secondary sources
are generally available in written, typed or in electronic forms such as scholarly books
and articles. For this methodology, the literature findings are contain from books,
journals and articles. The search keywords used for finding are road, safety, traffic
and accidents. The Google search engine is chosen in a first place, before acquiring
the full documents through applicable online database such as Science Direct,
Springer, and Research Gate. In addition, secondary sources is classified into two
term of source - either internal or external. There are various advantages and
disadvantages of using secondary source.

Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages of using Secondary Source

 KA40102 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

Advantages Disadvantages
Sources by third party may not be a
Cheaper and faster to access
reliable party
Provides a way to access the work of best
Distort the results of the research.
scholars worldwide
Raise issues of authenticity and
Save time, efforts and money
copyright

Result and Discussion

As elsewhere in the world, the causes of road accident are faulty vehicles, uneven
roads, careless/reckless driving, speeding, drunk driving, inadequate sleep, alcohol
and other drug effect and many more. Below are the further explanation on the most
common causes of traffic accidents.

1. Distracted driving. Distracted driving becomes a larger threat every year and has
been the leading cause of accidents for the past decades. Therefore, people must
pay attention to the road while driving which no calls, no texting, no eating, no
reading, no grooming or application of makeup and talking while behind the
wheel.

2. Drunk driving. Drunk driving is one of the most dangerous causes of accidents
and is the most deadly. If people have had anything to drink, take other
alternatives by taking a taxi or give the vehicle keys to a sober friend. Most of
cases involving in drunk accidents cannot be safe.

3. Speeding. Although it can be tempting to push the speed limit when running late,
speeding is the second most common cause of accidents, so people should resist
the urge and stay within the legal limits.

4. Reckless driving. Changing lanes too quickly, speeding well over the limit, and
acting aggressive on the roads can lead to horrible accidents. It is important to
take the time and remain calm while driving to avoid needless accidents caused
by simple carelessness.
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LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

5. Weather (Rain). The weather also one of the causes that lead to traffic accidents.
The road become slippery and treacherous caused by heavy rain should be
avoided when at all possible. If visibility is too low to drive or the roads seem
particularly slick, people should pull over and wait until the storm passes.

6. Running red lights. This kind of behavior may seem obvious but it bears
repeating. Red always means stop. Even if it seems like no other cars are coming,
people may lead to a serious accident by running a red light and it is actually
breaking the law.

7. Night driving. Lack of visibility makes hazards more difficult to see at night.
Make sure that people are extra alert on the road at night and when use the full
lights when on an abandoned road without streetlights. It was found that driving
between 2.00AM and 5.00AM were associated with substantial increase in the
risk of a car crash resulting in serious injury or death.

8. Design defects. Sometimes, accidents are caused by the flaws in the vehicles
itself. Make sure to take not of any recalls in the news and take the vehicles for
regular maintenance.

9. Tailgating. There is never an excuse to get too close to the car in front of, no
matter how frustratingly slow they seem to be going. Keep a safe distance from
other cars so that will have time to react to sudden reaction

10. Wrong-way driving/ Improper turns. Lapses in judgement while driving a

vehicle can cause horrible accidents. Be aware of street signs warning of one-way
streets or other irregularities, especially in unfamiliar areas. Use signals properly
and always look out for traffic signs and obey the proper right-of-way when
making U-turn.

Despite from the cause of accidents, there are also few steps to mitigate the accidents
towards sustainable traffic. Below are the method to reduce the traffic accidents
towards sustainable traffic.
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LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

1. Heavy penalty should be imposed on all those who cross speed limits. If this is
strictly implemented, nobody will dare to go at a high speed.

2. Develop a new instrument for collision prevention and should be fitted on all
vehicle type. For example, an instrument that can automatized to slower the speed
of vehicle at the limit speed.

3. Driving tests for issue of driving license to be more stringent and foolproof such
raising the lower age limit for two wheeler and heavy vehicle license to 21 years
old.

4. To make sure that the quality of helmet are available at market. This to support
the safety of motorcyclist.

5. Children below a certain age should not be permitted to do cycling in busy roads
or roads where heavy vehicles are plying even though with parents observation.

6. Law should be modified such that the person who causes the accident has to bear
0 to 10% insurance claims, depending on severity of negligence. Also, the
compensations should be made very huge, making accidents unaffordable so that
everyone will be very cautious or vigilant.

7. Making a public campaign on safety awareness. This should be practise from

childhood so that they will become more careful when using roads. The
awareness could be cultivate from schools, colleges, universities etc.

8. Having more subsidies for public transport such lowering the public transport
fees. Also increasing the public transport trips so people could use more public
transport.

9. Strictly enforcement of speed limits. This enhance the people to reduce their
speed of vehicle for safe journey.

10. Tamper proof speed controllers should be made mandatory for all heavy vehicles.
New heavy vehicles should have built in tamper proof speed controllers.

Conclusion
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LECTURER: DR. MOHD AZIZUL BIN LADIN

As to conclude, road traffic safety are predictable and preventable. It is hoped that it
will inspire and facilitate increased cooperation, innovation and commitment to
preventing road traffic crashes around the world. Road users everywhere deserve
better and safer road to travel.

Reference

 http://www.mot.gov.my/en/lands/public%20safety-roads

 https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/Road_
safety_media_brief_full_document.pdf

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3561885/

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/top-15-causes-of-car-accidents_b_11722196

 https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/roadprice_ch1.pdf