HIGHWAY WORKZONE SAFETY: AN ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SAFETY PRACTICES AND DRIVER’S RISK PERCEPTION FOR PAKISTAN

Abstract

Nations around the globe continue to face the challenges posed by alarming increase in number of road crash fatalities and injuries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Global Status Report on Road Safety - 2013”, approximately 1.24 million people around the world, die on roads every year and approximately 20 to 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries due to road traffic crashes (RTC). Pakistan has a large road network (approximately 260,760 km), serving approximately 11 million vehicles of all types. According to WHO estimates there were approximately 30,000 annual RCF in Pakistan in year 2010 (WHO, 2013). Highway workzone is the road area where highway construction, maintenance or activity related to utility maintenance takes place. Workers in highway workzone are exposed to a variety of hazards and face risk of injury and death from construction equipment as well as passing motor vehicles. Workzone crashes account for significant proportion of all traffic crashes in Pakistan due to higher crash rate as compared to other parts of the highway network. Safety measures and better understanding of risks involved while moving through the workzone have significant effects on the overall safety climate at workzones. The direct study of the safety measures taken at workzone and road user‟s perception of the risk can be helpful in identification of those key areas/ measures that need special attention for improving highway workzone safety in Pakistan. Present study synthesized the state of safety practices at highway workzones in Pakistan and also carried out a comparative analysis of typical highway workzones in Pakistan with international standards as recommended by Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Using data from eight different highway workzones across the country, analysis revealed that majority of the highway workzones in Pakistan lack proper safety measures and that they are constructed without following any established standards. Advance warning area, transition area, activity area and termination area, of majority of the highway workzones were either missing or without proper specifications. Also, driver‟s risk perception while driving through a typical highway workzone in Pakistan was modeled using fixed and random effect ordered probit models. Analysis revealed that education and income level, age, driving 10 experience, frequency of travelling through highway workzone and law enforcement significantly influence driver‟s risk perception of highway workzone. The study can lay foundations for improvement in safety environment at highway workzones in country through improved understanding of present safety conditions and driver‟s risk perception.