ACCIDENT ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFICATION OF BLACK SPOTS ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS (N-5) SECTION PESHAWAR TO ATTOCK BRIDGE

Abstract

The most common myth of accident being unavoidable is the bane of any society with National Highways being the prime example. Accidents can be unintentional and sometimes can be random but are generally found to occur or pile up along some hazardous locations called black spots. Road safety is a major concern in the present situation. There are many steps required to achieve the road safety measures. This thesis presents a method by which the accident-prone locations on roads, commonly termed as accident black spots, can be identified The reasons for the accidents can be attributed to the lack of signage, raised median cover with trees/bushes, making pedestrians not visible to driver, improper design of pedestrian crossing, frequent median openings, and lack of enforcement to control wrong side movements. There are however, other factors, which contribute directly or indirectly to the accidents include road, vehicle, road user and environmental factors. From the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that this National Highway section needs improvement from safety point of view. A large number of accidents have been occurring over such a small section of 62 km length. Proper traffic guidance and control system to guide road users ensuring safe movement of vehicles has been recommended and some of the facilities such as pedestrian crossings and median openings, vertical and horizontal alignment are also recommended in order to improve the safety of the road and minimize the accidents.