Traffic Accident Causes and Its Countermeasures on Addis Ababa-Adama Expressway

Abstract

Road traffic accident is one of the most common reasons of deaths and injuries in the world. Ethiopia is among the leading countries in road traffic accident. The study was conducted to identify the major causes of road traffic accident specifically focusing on Addis-Adama expresssway, to project causes of traffic accident on the expressway and propose possible counter measures, and to provide empirical evidence on the feasibility of an existing solution to a problem. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used to identify causes of road accident. Multinomial probit regression model and accident severity value were used to assess the causes of traffic accident and identify the black spot region of expressway. The study used secondary data collected from Ethiopian Toll Road Enterprise. The study revealed that on average about 417 crashes were reported since September 2014 to February 2016. As a result of these crashes over 672 accidents were registered in the expressway that caused 285 human injuries and 387 property damage. Of the total human injuries, 37 were fatal, 65 and 183 were serious and slight injuries, respectively. Factors like Day of the Week, Collision Types, Types of Vehicles and Plate Number Region were major causes of traffic accident. From four black spot regions on the expressway, most of the accidents were occurred at main gate. On the basis of the findings, all roads users, policy makers and road traffic regulators were expected to consider those factors to minimize accident on Expressway and since most of the accidents were occurred at main gate, it is important to install Rumple Strip (speed breaker) at a range of minimum stopping site distances at entrance and exit of main gate.