Evaluation of the effectiveness of traffic calming measures on vehicle speeds and pedestrian injury severity in Ghana.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Traffic Inj Prev
• Personal Author:
  Damsere-Derry, James ; Ebel, Beth E. ; Mock, Charles N. ; Afukaar, Francis ; Donkor, Peter ; Kalowole, Thomas Ojo
• Description:
  Objectives:
  
  Each year, pedestrian injuries constitute over 40% of all road casualty deaths and up to 60% of all urban road casualty deaths in Ghana. This is as a result of the overwhelming dependence on walking as a mode of transport in an environment where there is high vehicular speeds, and inadequate pedestrian facilities. The objectives of this research were to establish (1) the impact of traffic calming measures on vehicle speeds and (2) the association between traffic calming measures and pedestrians’ injury severity in built-up areas in Ghana.
  
  Method:
  
  Vehicle speeds were unobtrusively measured in 38 selected settlements comprising 19 “with” and 19 “without” traffic calming schemes. The study design used in this research was a matched case-control. A regression analysis compared case and control casualties using a conditional logistic regression.
  
  Results:
  
  Generally, the mean vehicle speeds and the proportion of vehicles exceeding the 50 km/hour speed limit were significantly lower in settlements which have traffic calming measures compared with towns without any traffic calming measures. Additionally, the proportion of motorists who exceeded the speed limit was 30% or less in settlements which have traffic calming devices whilst the proportion who exceeded the speed limit was 60% or more in towns without any traffic calming measures. The odds of pedestrian fatality was significantly higher in settlements which have no traffic calming devices compared to those which have, OR=1.98; (95% CI=1.09 to 4.43). The protective effects of a traffic calming scheme which has a speed table was notably higher than where there were no speed tables.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  It was clearly evident that traffic calming devices reduce vehicular speeds and for that matter, the incidence and severity of pedestrian injuries in built-up areas in Ghana. However, the fact that they are deployed on arterial roads is increasingly becoming a road safety concern. Given the emerging safety challenges associated with speed calming measures, we recommend their use to be restricted to residential streets but not on arterial roads. Long term solutions for improving pedestrian safety proposed herein include by-passing settlements along the highways to reduce pedestrians’ exposure to traffic collisions, adopting a modern way of enforcement such as evidence-based laser monitoring in conjunction with a punishment regime which utilizes the demerit points system.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Acceleration Accidents, Traffic Adolescent Adult Article Case-Control Studies Child Child, Preschool Female Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Male Middle Aged Pedestrians Trauma Severity Indices Wounds And Injuries Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Traffic Inj Prev. 20(3):336-342
• Pubmed ID:
  31033340
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7141770
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  D43 TW007267/TW/FIC NIH HHS/United States ; R49 CE000197/CE/NCIPC CDC HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  Ghana
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3d2769bf55b3798290a865250a0210ca55063936f749d2725cb3b2d5d654abfc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/86638/cdc_86638_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 334.79 KB ]