The Road Safety Measures: Their Effects in Improving Road Traffic Accident in Addis Ababa

Abstract

Road traffic crashes now represent the eighth leading cause of death globally. They claim more than 1.35 million lives each year and cause up to 50 million injuries and developing countries take the larger share. Therefore, this study sought to assess the effects of road safety measures in reducing road traffic accidents in Addis Ababa. Cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed for this study and data was collected using structured questionnaire. The study engaged 384 respondents which include 204 pedestrian and 180 drivers. Also 10years road traffic accident data from 2010 to 2019 was used from Addis Ababa police commission crime and traffic accident prevention department. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS Version 21+ software, while qualitative data was organized and analyzed thematically. The traffic data analysis result shows that the number of traffic accident in Addis Ababa is increasing for the last 10 years. But, using the standard accident measurement index which considers increase in human as well as vehicle population, the fatal accident/100.000 population of the city for the same year is nearly constant but fatal accident per 10,000 vehicles shows reduction from 2015 to 2019. The result also shows that comprehension of traffic signs and signals by drivers and pedestrian is 58.38% and 53.93% respectively. Comprehension of traffic safety rules and regulation by both road users; drivers (51.1%) and pedestrian (55.54%) are low. Based on the result, the study recommended that road safety campaigns should be frequently organized to aware road users about the major and important traffic signs, rules and regulations. Since road safety is a multifaceted problem, stakeholders should work together to improve road safety in the city.