Safety Evaluation of Pedestrian at Road Crossing a Case Study in Addis Ababa Kirkos Sub City

Abstract

In Ethiopia, pedestrian fatalities are the dominant type of road accidents, accounting for 55% of total deaths. Local authorities and police officers of Kirkos sub-city had tried to demonstrate that the sub-city recorded the worst pedestrian crashes while they were crossing on the roads and streets. Hence this research sought to identify the main cause of pedestrian crashes and the place of the highest pedestrian crash in Kirkos sub city which can be the basis for the possible remedial measure at this identified place. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of pedestrian crossing on the road in Kirkos sub-city. Primary data and secondary data collections were used in this study to gather relevant information about the study area. The causes of high pedestrian crash had been identified through questionnaire survey and interviews. There were 16 causes of crashes identified from secondary data and from literature review which also utilized in this study. Statistical tool such as Likert Scale and Relative Index (RI) were used to rank the different factors causing pedestrian crashes. The targeted population respondents were pedestrian, driver and Kirkos sub city’s traffic police officers. The researcher adopted random sampling method to obtain representative data from targeted population. The significance of this study was recommending the possible remedies to reduce pedestrian crash. Based on the results of the study, Road segment from Getu commercial to Wello sefer roundabout was identified as the highest pedestrian crash place in sub-city. For identification of causes of pedestrian crash secondary, literatures data and questionnaire was used. The ranks of those causes crash was done based on both secondary data and questionnaire response. The result obtained was almost similar rank. The main causes of pedestrian crashes were over-speeding of vehicles (RI=0.800) from questionnaire result and 132 pedestrian crash, pedestrian illegal crossing (RI= 0.779), and 121 pedestrian crash, absence of median and pedestrian refugee island (RI=0.732) and alcohol impaired driving (RI= 0.681) as presented in table 4.8 and table 4.15. Possible remedies for crash reduction were providing different speed reduction, implementing pedestrian punishment legislation and separating pedestrian and vehicle completely were some of recommended remedial measures. Since younger pedestrians of age 18 to 30 were associated with a greater probability of severe injuries younger population could be one of the main target age groups in the education programs.