Prioritization of roads for accident occurrence
Prioritization involves assigning suitable weights to different factors so as to achieve a desired result. In this model, the various factors, which tend to influence the occurrence of accidents on roads are assigned weights on a scale of 0-10 in such a manner that the factors which tends to increase the probability of the accidents have lower weights. These factors are entered into the model using a user-friendly graphical interface developed using Visual Basic6.0. Thus the road attributes along with their suitable weights can be easily assigned to the given road network. In order to prioritize roads for occurrence of accidents, the various factors considered and the weights assigned to them are given in following table.
Table 1.1 Factors used in Prioritization with their weights
| Factors affecting occurrence of accidents |
Possible variations |
Weights
Assigned |
| Number of lanes in each direction |
0
1
2
3
4 |
2
4
6
8
10 |
| Approximate number of vehicles per day |
Less than 1000
Less than 2500
Less than 5000
Greater than 5000 |
10
7
4
1 |
| Width of the road |
Single lane 3.75 m
Two lanes without raised
kerbs, 7.0 m
Two lanes with raised
kerbs, 7.5m
Intermediate carriageway
Multi-lane pavements |
2
4
6
8
10
|
| Type of road |
National Highway
State Highway
Major District Roads
Other District Roads
Village
Roads |
10
8
6
4
2 |
| Drainage facilities provided |
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
No Drainage |
10
74
1 |
| Surface condition of the pavement |
Concrete
WBM
Surface Painted
Other Bituminous
Earth Roads |
10
8
4
6
2 |
| Frequent vehicle type on the road |
Bus / Truck
Car
Two Wheelers
Bicycles
Carts |
2
4
6
8
10 |
| Presence of shoulders |
Yes
No |
10
4 |
| Presence of edge obstructions like advertising hoardings, trees etc very close to the
road |
Yes
No
|
4
10
|
| Provision of median barriers to channelize the traffic | Yes
No |
10
4 |
| Presence of ribbon development near roads |
Yes
No |
4
10 |
The final weight assigned to each road link is obtained by adding all the individual weights and normalizing the value using maximum weight(in this case 110) that can be assigned.
Hence,
Total weight = ( SIndividual Weights) x 100 / 110.
Thus road links with high final weight are less prone to accidents than the road link with low final weight. The classification of roads for occurrence of accidents based on final weights is done using the following classification scheme
Table 1.2 Prioritization Scheme
| Final Weight ( %) |
Accident Prone Level |
| 80 - 100 |
Very Low |
| 60 - 80 |
Low |
| 40 - 60 |
Medium |
| 0 - 40 |
High |