ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

LABORATORY 6 ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

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INTRODUCTION

The problem of road accidents in Malaysia is increasingly becoming the main concern of the general public, particularly those in relevant government agencies such as the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Works and the Traffic Police. The issue of road accidents has always been a subject of serious discussion in the media that involves concerned citizens, academicians and members of non-governmental organizations. The huge economic loss due to road accidents is a waste and various strategies have been embarked upon to reduce the number of accidents, especially the fatal ones (Karim, M.R., 1995). In order to impress upon the public that road accidents may be prevented or reduced in severity (and not something that happen by chance), the term crashes has been preferred instead of accidents. Reducing the high rate of crashes and road fatalities definitely requires a multi-faceted approach focusing on measures related to education, engineering, road environment, enforcement of traffic regulations and emergency services. In the Malaysian context, Road Safety Audit (RSA) may be defined as the formal examination of the planning, design and construction of a road project, and of the characteristics and operations of an existing road, by independent and qualified examiners, to identify any potentially unsafe feature or operational arrangement that may adversely affect the safety of any road user (Public Works Department Malaysia, 1997). It therefore involves a formal process rather than an ad-hoc procedure and the safety audit needs to be performed at specific stages in the development of a project by

suitably qualified person or group of persons independent of the planning, design and construction teams involved with the project. RSA is known to be a pro-active approach towards road safety. The implementation of RSA procedures not only helps to eliminate or minimize accident causes before these are built into a project, it also helps to inculcate a road safety culture
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LABORATORY 6

particularly amongst those directly involved or indirectly associated with the project. Even in cases when desirable changes to a design cannot be made (due to one reason or another), early detection of safety deficiencies through the RSA process often allows other mitigating measures to be considered.

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OBJECTIVE

i.

The identification of hazardous features of an existing road so that they can be eliminated or otherwise treated before they become accident-prone locations,

ii.

To ensure that the safety requirements of all road users are considered in the planning, design, construction and operation of road projects.

iii.

To determine and identify the potential of the safety risks for road users and to estimate the right way of reducing the risks.

iv.

To ensure all road are safe for all road users.

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APPARATUS i. Camera

ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

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PROCEDURE The procedures of this experiment are as follows: i. ii. iii. iv. The assessment is briefly explained by the lecturer to all students. Task is given between group members based on the checklist given. Area around UiTM Shah Alam is surveyed. During the survey, the area is investigated to find the potential risk of road for road users. v. vi. vii. The picture of the potentials risk area is captured. All the data is tabulated in the table base on its conditions. Group discussion is done due to the problems and the most suitable recommendation is made from the discussion. viii. All the recommendations are recorded into the table of result with their picture and descriptions.

ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

5.0

RESULT & ANALYSIS

5.1

Vertical and horizontal alignment

Figure 1: Jalan Bijak in front of the S&T Complex

Problems: The road is not consistence whereby the general alignment standard of the road changes abruptly and it is not expected by vehicle drivers. Recommendation: Put a sign board that warn the driver to reduce the speed of vehicle and if possible locate a sight mirror so that the driver can look what in front of the road.

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LABORATORY 6

Figure 2: Sharphly slope road at Jalan Pintar

Problem: The alignment of the road is too steep and as the vehicle reached at the bottom of the road, the road feels undulated from the lack of consistency in the alignment which could be dangerous for road user especially on wet surfaces during rainy sessions.

Recommendation: Put a signboard showing the degree of the road steepness as well as warning sign that the road is not suitable for heavy vehicles like busses. In addition, make the road as a one way road and if possible it is best to minimize the angle of the road curve by process of cutting and filling.

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LABORATORY 6

Figure 3: Along Jalan Bijak

Problems: The road is rather curvy with a speed value of more than 10km/h below 85% percentile approach speed. Recommendation: Put a signage that the road is a curvy road so that the driver are able to reduce the speed of vehicle and if possible locate a sight mirror so that the driver can look what in front of the road.

ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

5.2

Cross Section

Figure 4: T-intersection at Dataran Cendiakawan

Problems: Location of regular traffic congestion especially during peak hours which is in the morning.

Recommendation: Locate the control access to control traffic around and during peak hour, a traffic policeman is patrolling the flow of traffic in order to reduce congestion and make traffic flow smoothly.

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LABORATORY 6

Figure 5: Jalan Cemerlang

Problems: The curve of this road is very sharp and quite narrow. Sometimes there are buses passes this road although any heavy vehicle is strictly not allowed to use this road. Additionally, there are vehicle intersect with each other whereas the road only suitable for one way traffic only.

Recommendation: Install signage alerting road user that the road is a one way traffic only and also put signboard not allowing heavy vehicle passing through this road.

ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

5.5

Street Lighting

Small Triangular Island

Figure 6: Triangular island in front of Kolej Melati

Problems: The area around the small island is not provided with enough lighting as the road users cannot see clearly the direction at the road.

Recommendation: Should provide more lighting as that island is connected to the major road that is used by the users almost all the time especially during night hour.

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LABORATORY 6

Figure 7: Jalan Bijak in front of the S&T Complex

Problems: There is no enough light at the zebra crossing line as it dangerous to the users when vehicles passing through the road.

Recommendation: Provided more lighting and arrangement of street light along the road asroute guidance to the users.

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LABORATORY 6

5.6

Traffic Signing

Figure 7: Road next to Dewan Annex.

Problems: The traffic sign along the road is rather confusing because the yellow color sign show that the vehicle should turn to the right ahead, but the road does not lead to right side, instead the road leads to left side.

Recommendation: Instead of installing the right sign turn on the left hand side of the road, the sign should be install on the left side before and along the curve of the road. Moreover, it is advisable putting a signage indicating that the road is a curvy road so that the drivers are able to reduce the speed of vehicle and if possible locate a sight mirror so that the driver can look what in front of the road.
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LABORATORY 6

Figure 8: Traffic signing located at Persiaran Lingua

Problems: The words in the signboard are rather small and not clearly visible to the road users. So it is difficult for road user to read the small words even when there are travelling at low speed. On the other hand, the color of words on the board which is yellow, is also not suitable to the road users.

Recommendation: The words in the signboard should be made larger to make it visible for road user and the colour of words should be in lighter colour and has the ability to refectories so that it is predominantly displayed to the intended road users either during day or night.

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ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

Figure 9: Along the streets of FSPU building

Problems: Unauthorized traffic sign with no sign and will certainly disturb the way of pedestrian.

Recommendation: The traffic sign should be removed if it is not functioning to delivers any information to the road users.

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LABORATORY 6

5.

Pavement Marking

Figure 11 : Along street Dataran Cendekia

Problems: The problem of figure are there were faded broken centre lines. The centre line on a 2 lane freeway shall be a broken white line, and 100mm wide. It may be used where it is desirable to discourage crossing of the line.

Recommendation: Remarking the broken centre line with white paint. Used high quality of paint.

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ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

6.0

DISCUSSION From the road safety audit, it is found that there are many problems of road safety in UiTM Shah Alam. There are a lot of road problems identified such as vertical and horizontal alignment, cross-section, road signing, street lighting, pavement marking, and road side safety and landscaping as well as general traffic management item. All of these road traffic problems might give an effect towards the road users. For instance, there are problems with road marking in the campus. Some of the roads marking are already blur and the paint was not clear anymore. Thus, the road marking should repaint to make it clearer and avoid confuses to the road users. Besides, it is found that majority of the road have narrow width and not suitable for heavy vehicle like busses to pass through and these problems seems to be the one of the reason accident happened in the campus. Based on surveys, in UiTM, there is no traffic signal installed. Still, road congestion still occurred especially during peak hour. It is also discovered that lack of traffic signage being installed around the campus. For new comers, they will experience difficulty to find out the location that they intend to go to because lack and improper signboard sign to guide them. All of these problems may affect traffic users as well as the flow of the traffic especially during the peak hours. Thus, from the problem encountered, several recommendations are made based of the problem identified. Therefore, it is best if the problems very soon for the good of traffic users. Even if not all problems is solved, at least some can be eliminated or treated to mitigate the adverse effects at minimum cost. After all, if all the problems is solved it is for the safety requirements of all road users.

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ECG 504 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

LABORATORY 6

8.0

CONCLUSION

Form the audit survey, safety is an important consideration in the design and operation of streets and highways. The plan should set measurable long term and midterm road safety targets as it involved thousands of people especially students. After all, improving road safety requires the participation of many different organizations and sectors to get success in road safety.

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REFERENCES

Hermann Knoflacher (2006). "A new way to organize parking: the key to a successful sustainable transport system for the future". Environment and Urbanization (International Institute for Environment and Development) 18 (2): 387400.

Jabatan Kerja Raya Malaysia. Guidelines For The Safety Audit Of Roads In Malaysia. Jabatan Kerja Raya. Kuala Lumpur. 1997.

Radin Umar Radin Suhadi. Critical Review of Road Safety in Malaysia. Volume 7, No 1, The Proceeding of The Chartered Institute of Transport in the UK. March 1998.

Tey, L. S., Ishak, S. Z., Abdul Karim, S. N., Adnan, M. A., Abdul Rahman, M. Y., (2005) Highway and Traffic Lab Manual, Division of Geotech, Highway and Engineering Survey, Faculty of Civil Engineering, UiTM, Shah Alam.

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