Analysis of Highway Safety Issues on National Highway N-15 Mansehra to Chilas (233km)

Abstract

This research will present the results of study of road safety issues in Pakistan specifically in “Hilly Areas”, which will be carried out with the intent of developing a better understanding of the road safety profile of the country. The nature of the study will be exploratory. A need for reforms at institutional, physical, institutional and operational levels is suggested and to bring change at social level through transformation of behavior, intensive monitoring of traffic enforcement of law along with conduction of research work related to road safety is needed. Road Safety in Pakistan is still considered as an unfamiliar concept. At all levels, there is a general state of indifference towards issues related to road safety regardless of this acceptance that every one of us has affected by these issues. We as a nation ready to accept Road Safety as a Public Health Concern and Social Problem and decided to live in a state of denial. It is a fact that, every year, more than 12000 road users are getting killed and more than 55000 are injured severely and become disabled in Pakistan. If the laws are not equitably and efficiently applied the road related institution will fail to bring changes on ground and they must have held responsible for that. To save the precious lives of our road users a comprehensive and wellcoordinated approach is needed to address this huge task. To bring discipline in road user towards our road requires all level strong commitment. In this usual scenario, NH&MP plays a significant role to improve the situations on our motorways and highways and their efforts are a ray of hope by enforcing law strictly, fairly but with courtesy. To teach our drivers a better road sense and to bring discipline to our roads, printing a National Road Safety Journal is a revolutionary effort. It is an open secret that for saving lives of road users driver him/herself is the weakest link in this whole effort. In fact, one of biggest killers on our roads is speed and our drivers still don’t bother to wear seat belts and have a habit of going beyond the speed limits. Publication of Road Safety Journal is the key way of raising awareness level about among the users regarding such issues. Various issues related to road safety including road user awareness and education ranging from road engineering to implementation has been focused in the current copy of journal of National Road Safety. In the present journal issue, several topics are included which enforces the concerned departments to areas which require immediate attention. We can xiv save lives of road users in our country by improving the current road safety situation with strong commitment and serious efforts. Highway Safety is one of the most important aspects of transportation engineering as traffic accidents are unavoidable in human life. Pakistan are faced with new dimension of highway safety challenges after the advent of motorways, safety management of motorways demand more meticulous addressal of safety issues due to involvement of high speed dynamics. This Study presents a method by which the accident-prone locations on roads, commonly termed as accident blackspots, can be identified. The reasons for the accidents can be attributed to the lack of driving skill, lack of education, economic values, lack of signage, geometric design problems and improper design of pedestrian crossing. There are however, other factors, which contribute directly or indirectly to the accidents include road, vehicle, road user and environmental factors.