AMTID International Conference: Road Safety Audit of Palm Beach Road, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

Proceedings of International Conference on
Advances in Materials and Techniques for Infrastructure Development
(AMTID 2011) NIT Calicut, India, 28-30 September 2011.
Paper No.: T033

ROAD SAFETY AUDIT FOR INDIAN ROADS

Dr. P. Vedagiri1, Jatin Solanki2, and Rahul Ajmera3

Abstract:
Performing a Road Safety Audit is a proactive approach to safety; factors that could
contribute to a crash are identified before crashes can occur. Objective of the Road Safety
Audit is to assess projects for potential accident elimination / reduction on the basis of road
user knowledge, attributes and skills, day/night, wet/dry road conditions. Road Safety Audits
can be viewed as a proactive low-cost approach to improve safety. Safety Audits and counter
measures should be considered as a necessary cost within the project. We take a case study of
the Palm Beach Road at Navi Mumbai, where the accident rates have been alarming in recent
times. The study goal was also to provide a generic framework for conducting Road Safety
Audits at other Indian cities in the future. This study serves two purposes, the first is to report
the findings of Road Safety Audits performed on the case study road, and the second is to
document the lessons learned in the current study that will facilitate future Road Safety Audits
in Indian cities.

Keywords: Road Safety Audit, Safety Issues, Accidents, Safety Index.

1. INTRODUCTION

Road transport deserves a high priority compared to other modes of transport like water
transport and air transport, as it can effectively meet the demand for transport arising out of
growing economic, social, health, cultural and religious needs of the people. Road transport
plays a major role in the continuing rapid development of India‟s economy. Roads in India
carry an estimated 60% of freight and 80% of passengers. India has the second largest road
network in the world with over 3.31 million km. Road accidents have earned India a dubious
distinction. With over 130,000 deaths annually, the country has overtaken China and now has
the worst road traffic accident rate worldwide.

The 56.5 million registered vehicles using the Indian roads have taken a heavy toll on human
life. Road crashes are a growing worldwide problem. Road systems all over the world are
getting increasingly congested and unsafe with every passing day. Between 1970-71 and
2001-02, the total number of registered vehicles in India has increased 31 times. However, the
road length in the same period has increased by only 2.71 times. India has only about 1% of
the world's vehicles but accounts for as much as 6% of the world's accidents. These crashes
have a major impact on the country's economy, costing an estimated Rs. 300 billion or more
than 3% of India's GDP every year.
___________________________________________________________________________
1
Dr. P. Vedagiri , Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Bombay, vedagiri@iitb.ac.in
2
Jatin Solanki,4th Year B.Tech Student, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Bombay.
3
Rahul Ajmera,4th Year B.Tech Student, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Bombay.

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Proceedings of AMTID 2011, NIT Calicut, Jun 22-24, 2011
Road Safety Audit for Indian Roads and Conditions

Incidentally, India holds the dubious distinction of registering the highest number of road
accidents in the world. According to the experts at the National Transportation Planning and
Research Centre (NTPRC) the number of road accidents in India is three times higher than
that prevailing in developed countries. The number of accidents for 1000 vehicles in India is
as high as 35 while the figure ranges from 4 to 10 in developed countries. Urbanization being
world phenomenon, India along with other less developed countries has not remained
unaffected by the industrial urban revolution. The phenomenal urbanization has resulted
significant road safety problems. In India alone, the death toll rose to 14 per hour in 2009 as
opposed to 13 the previous year. The total number of deaths every year due to road accidents
has now passed the 135,000 mark, according to the latest report of National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB). The economic loss to the society on account of road accidents is estimated
to be about Rs.3500 crores every year. The involvement of heavy vehicles is very high. About
61% accidents occur due to 7.6% of heavy vehicles in the country. The National Highways,
which are only 2% in the country account for 25% accidents, 34% of deaths and 28% of
injuries.
Indian road safety situation is ten times worse when compared to the developed countries of
the world, which leaves much to be done in the field of Road Safety Management. Road
safety is defined as the absence of crashes, injuries and fatalities. The term "safety" implies
that there are no occurrences of accidents. This study is an attempt in this direction.

2. NEED FOR THE STUDY

Road safety is a serious global problem with more than one life is lost every minute.
Accidents are due to culmination of more than one factor. Road user error is identified as the
most common factor but engineering measures the road vehicle environment easier to deal
with and reduce road user error and improve road safety situation.
An important part of the accident prevention strategy is the Road Safety Audit.
AUSTROADS (1994) defines road safety audit as "A formal examination of an existing or
future road or intersection by an independent audit team. It is a formal examination of a future
road or traffic project, or an existing road, in which an independent, qualified team looks at
the project‟s crash potential and safety performance”. Road safety audits can be used in any
phase of project development from planning and preliminary engineering, design and
construction. RSAs can also be used on any sized project from minor rural roads to inter-state
National Highways. RSAs can be viewed as a proactive low-cost approach to improve safety.

Since our roads are designed and constructed by striking a socio-economic balance between
safety, accessibility, environment, economy and locally available material and skill, RSA may
determine the shortfall in safety, but may not be able to correct the deficiencies in pavement
design, drainage, and appropriate space standard etc. The specific objectives of road safety
audit are :To ensure a high level of safety in road projects, greater safety benefits at lower cost
are possible when audit occurs early in the planning and design stages, To minimize accident
risk on the road network, To promote the relevance of road safety engineering in all road
design work, To promote the safety of all road users on new and existing roads.

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3. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to undertake a safety audit to identify locations of potential
safety hazards and to suggest appropriate measures to enhance safety along the road. Accident
prevention is achievable though the normal application of safety principles in planning,
design and maintenance of roads. Accident reduction measures are aimed to treat hazardous
locations or sections through the use of appropriate counter measures. Accident prevention
can be further enhanced by the application of the process of Road Safety Auditory. The
scenario in India is completely different from that abroad. Contrary to the road users in most
developed country, road users in India are heterogeneous in nature, ranging from pedestrians,
animal-driven carts, bi-cycles, rickshaws, handcarts and tractor trolleys, to various categories
of two / three wheelers, motor cars, buses, trucks, and multi-axle commercial vehicles etc. It
requires a proactive approach and a customized treatment to deal with this situation. A
description of the Road Safety Audit process and its application to a particular road in
Mumbai is presented in this paper as a case study.

4. STEPS IN A ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

The distinct steps involved in Road Safety Audit are shown in Fig 1. Checklists have been
designed for use during each stage of auditing (AUSTROADS, 1994; IHT, 1996). In practice,

Reconnaissance Survey & Field Observations

Detailed Data Collection
On the basis of the field observations, detailed data like road geometry details,
accident records and traffic volume data are collected

Accident Analysis
On the basis of the accident data collected, we perform an accident analysis
by comparing various collision and condition diagrams

Conduct Road Safety Audit
Following the standard guidelines suggested by the Indian Road Congress
(IRC) and Australian Road Research board (ARRB), a road safety audit is
conducted

Identification of Safety Issues
Using the results from accident analysis and photographs from field visits,
safety issues of the road are highlighted

Final Recommendations & Conclusions
All the observations and results of the study are tabulated and conclusions are
drawn on the study
Fig. 1: Steps for a Road Safety Audit

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These checklists have proved very useful as reminders for the auditors, but there is also a risk
that they are used too blindly as recipes without sufficient consideration for individual
situations. The list needs to be modified for different road conditions like the once in India.
What is required is a combination of judgment, skill and systematic working. An exhaustive
check list for road safety audit in Indian road condition has been given in Table 1
Table 1. Check list for road safety audit
Road Alignment Intersections Interchanges Signs and Marking and Pedestrians
and Cross Lighting Delineation and Bicyclists
Section
1.Visibility, sight 1.Location 1.Visibility, 1.lighting 1.General Issues 1.General
distance 2.Visibility, 2.sight distance 2.General 2.Centerlines, issues
2. Design speed sight distance 3.Lanes, signs Issues edge lines, lane 2.Pedestrians
3.Speed 3.Signing and 4.shoulders 3.Sign lines 3.Bicyclists
limit/speed marking 5.Signing, legibility Guideposts and 4.Public
zoning 4.Layout and 6.marking, 4.Signs reflectors transport
4. Passing „readability‟ 7.delineation 3.Curve
5. „Readability‟ (perception) by 8.Pedestrians, warning and
(Perception) of drivers bicyclists delineation
the alignment by 5.Pedestrians, 9.Lighting
drivers bicyclists
6. Human factors 6.Lighting
7. Widths
8. Shoulders
9. Cross slopes
10. Side slopes
11. Drains
12. Combination
of features

5. A CASE STUDY OF PALM BEACH ROAD, NAVI MUMBAI

5.1. Study Stretch Details

The Palm Beach Road is a 10-kilometre-long six-lane road and an up-market residential and
commercial road that connects Vashi to Belapur via Nerul running parallel to the Thane creek.
The quality of the road, combined with the low density of vehicles has resulted in this road
being a dream stretch for motorists coming from congested Mumbai. The road is, actually,
designed for driving at 80 km per hour, but for safety reasons, the speed has been pegged
down to 60 km per hour. However, the vehicles cruise at a high speed of 100 to 120 km per
hour. The internal roads connecting the townships to the road are the trouble spots and the
high speed of the moving vehicles is a major cause for concern. Altogether 54 people have
died since 2007 on this road that is a major cause for concern and this year, sources said there
have been already 14 deaths so far with more than one a half month left for the year to end.
The road stretch consist of many features like T junctions (both signalized and un-signalized),
curves, water bodies along the road, culverts, flyovers, interchanges etc.

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5.2. Accident Data Collection & Analysis

A comprehensive record of every accident is available at police station in whose jurisdiction
the accident occurs. All the details like the location, date, time, type of vehicle and
injuries/fatalities, etc. are available in their register. IITB Audit team visited the police station
and collected the details. By abstracting this information, we prepare a list of spots at which
the accidents occur. The pie-chart 1, clearly shows that an alarming majority of accidents
occurs at Killa Chowk. This is a clear indication that road users face some difficulty in that
region, that is causing the accidents to occur. The junction must be treated as a priority.

Location of Accidents
2%
2% 4% 2%

2%
2% Killa Chowk
Diwale Junction
4%
Near Dakshin Hotel
2% Agroli Bridge
2% Near J Tower
2% M.N.P. Office

2% Near Vishwakamal Hotel

2% Airoli Bridge
Opposite Mahanagar Palika's Office
3%
Sector 11 Seweri
Opposite Croma Showroom
Agrawal Trade Sector 11
69%
Vijaya Bank Sector 11
Bhanu Pa Chowk

Pie Chart 1: Accident Count Vs Locations

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Type of Accident
2%

25%

Serious
Fatal
Minor

73%

Pie Chart 2: Classification of Accident Pie Chart 3: Vehicle Involved

Pie-chart 2 shows that a large majority accidents on the given stretch result in serious injuries
or more. Also, about a quarter of the accidents result in death, which is a very high fatality
ratio in itself. This means that stretch can be deemed as dangerous, in case of accidents. The
above pie-chart 3, shows that large heavy vehicles are involved in most of the accidents, with
cars being the second most involved. This is a hazardous sign as large heavy vehicles are
known to cause greater damage than smaller vehicles.

Pie Chart 4: Type of Vehicle - Drivers Fault Pie Chart 5: Reason for accident

Pie-chart (5) depicts that the cause of the accidents mainly is due to the negligent driving of
heavy vehicle drivers, who on the other hand should be more careful than other vehicle
drivers.

5.3. Road Safety Audit Survey

A preliminary survey is done to gauge the situation in the study area to find basic problems
and data requirements. The audit commenced on 14th December 2011, 1000 hours to 1700
hours. The audit team carried out site inspection by day and by night. The initial site
inspection was an overview of the entire length of the road to be audited. Detailed notes and
more than 100 photographs were taken of the perceived deficiencies. The audit team then
discussed the possible measures to address these safety problems. Checklist (IRC and ARRB)
were used to ensure a thorough coverage of the issues over the full length of the road. The
road has been divided into total stretch parts, for ease of analysis. We shall present some basic
problems sighted on a drive through the road.

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5.4. Safety Deficiencies

A number of safety deficiencies were identified along the road. The deficiencies and measures
recommended to address are discussed below.

Issue : Cars and parking extends into the third
lane of the road

Remedial measures: Provisions for Car parking
need to be made

Issue: Kerb height uneven. At times equal to
the road height. Cars parked halfway over the
footpath

Remedial Measures: Kerb should be of
uniform height
Provisions for car parking should be made

Issue: Extra width provided on the curve is flooded

Remedial measures: Extra width should be provided
for vehicle taking horizontal curve cause there is
tendency of driver to ply away from the edge of the
carriage way as they drive.

Issue: Kerb height insufficient (causing accident)

Remedial measures: Kerb height should be sufficient
enough to bar speeding vehicle from going the other side

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Issue: Street lights have been covered by over-grown
trees.

Remedial measures: There should be adequate
lighting and visibility during any time of the day.
Light poles should be installed accordingly

Issue: Pipelines encroaching the footpath and road
shoulder. Road is badly patched.

Remedial measures: Pavement should be free of
defects that could cause safety issues

6.0. Road Safety Audit Software

IRC and ARRB checklist were used to ensure a thorough coverage of design issues over the
full length of the road. As an aid, the "Easy Road Safety Audit Software" suitable for Indian
Conditions, was developed by IITB team. Prompt lists, sometimes called checklists, are one
of the tools used in conducting Road Safety Audits (RSAs) that help the auditors to identify
potential safety issues and ensure that they do not overlook something important in an audit.
There are, however, many challenges in using RSA prompt lists. The main one is that the use
of comprehensive RSA prompt lists has the potential to become an exercise of “ticking” the
boxes instead of an aid for the application of knowledge and experience of the auditors.
Another concern is that with the use of hi-level, broad prompt lists deprive the auditors of
sufficient detail that might be needed. The Road Safety Audit (RSA) Software was developed
to address these challenges and to support the practical implementation of RSA Guidelines.

The RSA Software is not just a mere automation of RSA prompt lists – it is intended to be a
guiding and process tracking tool enabling the use of RSA prompt lists at variety of detail
levels, while providing a way to accompany each safety issue raised with a discussion and
assessment. Using the software helps auditors to think about and justify their findings. The
software assists in drafting RSA reports, enables users to record safety issues both by prompt
list topic and by location, helps verify issues and locations entered. The goal of the software is
to enable RSA team members to think about broader issues during the safety performance
examination and to justify their findings and recommendations. A methodology „Road Safety
Audit Index‟ was developed to get the best use out of the Road Safety Audit Software which
was written in C++ programming language.

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6.1 Audit Index Analysis

The number of accidents occurring on a certain day is itself assumed to be normally
distributed, with a mean value being a linear function of independent variables, and a variance
being constant and same for all days of a certain time period studied. Some of the independent
variables that could be considered are: Visibility Issues, Design Speed, Width of road
elements, Lightings on road, Crash Barriers, Readability Issues, Traffic Signal, Pavement
Conditions, Signs, Road Marking, Pedestrian and Parking facilities
The model is of the following form:

Z = α1x1 + α2x2 + α3x3 + α4x4 + ……+αnxn
Where Z = Road safety audit factor, α1, α2…αn = weightage, x1, x2 …xn = independent
variables (Factors listed above)

To determine the αi the influency variables are prioritized into three groups keeping in mind
the safety issues and statistical survey. Out of the total of 100, the distribution is done in the
ratio 50:30:20 to primary: secondary: tertiary variables respectively.
Then these scores are divided into the subgroup according to the expert‟s opinion. Below
given are these variables and the score allotted to each assessment question respectively.
Thereby the respective αi „s are allotted and the road safety audit factor „Z‟ is determined from
the model equation given above.

Table 2 Primary: secondary: tertiary variables
Primary Variable – 50 Secondary Variable – 30 Tertiary Variable - 20
o Visibility Issues [10] o Readability Issues [10] o Signs [2+2+2]
o Design Speed [5+5] o Traffic Signal [3+3+3] o Road Marking
o Width of elements [10] o Pavement Conditions [2+2+2+2]
o Lightings on road [3+3+2+3] o Pedestrian and Parking
[4+3+3] facilities
o Crash Barriers [1.5+1.5+1.5+1.5]
[3+2+3+2]

The road safety audit factor may lie in the range of 0-100 which will determine the Road
Safety Audit Index of the road whose road safety audit is done. According to the table given
below the road is thus classified and its major areas of safety concern is thus given by the
program. The whole process is carried out using a Road Safety Audit Software, which does
the assessment using a set of questionnaires and gives the final audit report for the road
stretch analyzed.
Table 3 Road Safety Audit Factor
Classification Of Road Road Safety Audit Factor (Z)
Class D <40
Class C 40-60
Class B 60-80
Class A 80-100

Road Safety Audit Index for the Palm Beach Road was calculated using the software and the
report was as follows:

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Snapshot of Safety Audit Software Input & Output

7. CONCLUSIONS

This paper has outlined the dimensions of the road safety problem on roads in India. A case
study is presented, describing the purpose and methodology of a road safety audit. The audit
identified a number of relatively low cost preventive measures that can be implemented to
significantly reduce the risk of road accidents. This study serves two purposes, the first is to
report the findings of Road Safety Audits performed on the case study road, and the second is
to document the lessons learned in the current study that will facilitate future Road Safety
Audits in Indian cities. As highlighted by the accidental data and software output, we
conclude that there are definite issues with visibility of the road. Also, a certain section of the
road, namely Killa Chowk may have to be redesigned as per IRC recommendations and speed
restrictions be imposed on it. There is a wide range of issues and the remedial measures
suggested must be implemented to ensure greater safety.

REFERENCES

1. S.R. Tambe, “Accident Prevention Efforts in Maharashtra”, Proceedings of International
Seminar on Highway Safety Management & Devices, New Delhi, 6-7 November 1998.
2. S.C. Sharma & Michael Lyons, “Road Safety Audit of a National Highway in India”,
Proceedings of International Seminar on Highway Safety Management & Devices, New
Delhi, 6-7 November 1998.
3. Prof. (Dr.) N.S. Srinivasan & R.Ramarksihan, “ Road Safety Action Plan for Chennai
City”, Proceedings of International Seminar on Highway Safety Management & Devices,
New Delhi, 6-7 November 1998.
4. P.R. Chandak, “ Safety Audit – Step to Mitigate Road Accident Disaster”, Proceedings of
International Seminar on Highway Safety Management & Devices, New Delhi, 6-7
November 1998.
5. AUSTROADS. (1994). Road Safety Audit. AUSTROADS Publication No. AP-30/94.
6. TRRL, (1991). Towards Safer Roads in Developing Countries.

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