A study towards improving road safety through accident prevention and accident reduction measures (Kinta Kellas) / Ahmad Azzineizar Md. Jaffni

As in the reality of our daily life today, it is hardly worrying for us whereby the rate of accidents on our roads especially our expressways are increasing badly from years to years. For example, in the year of 1989, the number of accident cases reported was 1,083 and the figure keeps on increasing as in the year of 1994, the total number of accidents reported was 6,154. The increasing rate of accidents had achieved to a level which is very serious and critical whereby more than 1 person in every 450 of the country will suffer injury or death in a road accident each year.1 The study of this research is basically to study the type of accidents occurrences on our expressway especially our North-South Expressway and figuring out including visualizing a reliable and efficient methods in a way towards reducing the rate of accidents from increasing each days, hours and years. The methods stressed out by the researcher from this study is through the accident reduction and accident prevention measures. Accident reduction involves the application of appropriate road engineering or traffic management schemes at hazardous locations on the existing road network. While accident prevention involves the application of safety principles in the planning, design, upgrading and maintenance of roads. As we all can see, accidents gives bad impact to our economic growth whereby whenever there is to occur any accidents, it is a waste of resources, money and life which will give bad images to our country itself. As you glance through this research, the researcher is trying to study and evaluate various measures that causes accidents to occur and analyzing the causes so that possible measures could be carried out in order to help reduce and prevent accidents from occurring more seriously in the futures to come. The causes of accidents that the researcher study's about could be divided into five [5] category namely the road designs, surrounding areas and weather conditions , human errors and behaviors, road conditions and road signage’s including speed limits. The methods that the researcher had evaluated in the process of reducing the rate of accidents on our North-South Expressway is through improvement on the road designs, close-monitor of the surrounding areas and weather conditions, methods on educating human through road safety education, upgrading road conditions and improving road signage by recommending signalized signage’s especially for warning signs and have separate speed limits on certain stretch along the study area. As the conclusion from the study made by the researcher, it was found out that careless and reckless drivers or human error and behaviors contributes the most whereby it embrace 94% of the overall accident statistics if it is to be compared with other causes of accidents on the North-South Expressway (Reports obtained from Traffic Safety Department, PLUS - Year 1995). Therefore, as an efficient methods and measures to reduce the rate of accident, it is the first and vital steps to educate the drivers thoroughly on the road safety educations and safety precautions so that they could be more responsible and aware of the danger that they might impose if they are among the careless and reckless drivers on our North-South Expressway.