Thesis Abstract

<p>&nbsp;                  <b>ABSTRACT&nbsp;</b></p><p>Traffic accidents not only cause injuries and deaths but also result in significant property and economic losses. With annual 40,000 lives lost in Nigeria and $80 billion in economic losses, research in minimizing accidents is a major priority. This research identified and ranked factors that reduce traffic fatalities and determined their relative importance. A total of 93 factors were identified and ranked into seven major categories through a systematic literature review. A questionnaire was sent to the State Departments of Transportation, and the responses were coded and analyzed using a relative importance index, rankings and percentages. The systematic literature review and survey results indicated that agencies should direct resources toward the highest-ranking factors to achieve better safety performance. Efforts should be made to improve infrastructure and influence road-user behavior towards safer habits. Laws and policies are vital to maintaining good road-user behavior, which could leads to lower traffic fatalities.&nbsp;</p>

Thesis Overview

<p><b>1.0 INTRODUCTION&nbsp;</b></p><p><b>1.1. BACKGROUND STUDY</b></p><p>Over the past several decades, roughly 40,000 people have died each year in traffic accidents in Nigeria (Kittelson, 2010). Despite this high fatality rate, society has tolerated thistrend without much public outcry. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the United States has experienced a steady decline in the number of highway fatalities since 2005. While a significant decline in fatalities from 2005 to 2011 occurred, NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data for 2012 shows that 33,561 people lost their lives in traffic accidents—a 3.3% increase from 2011 (Fig 1.1 and 1.2). In 2012, an estimated 2.36 million people were injured in motor vehicle accidents, compared to 2.22 million in 2011, according to NHTSA’s National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES); this is an increase of 6.5%.(Fig 1.3). While there have been several statistically significant decreases in the estimated number of people injured annually; this is the first statistically significant increase since 1995 (Fig 1.4). As the economy continues to recover and more people take to the roads, this trend could increase over the next few years.&nbsp;</p><p>The fatality, injury, and property-damage-only crashes have significant economic costs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated the economic costs for motor vehicle accidents in 2010 at more than $277 billion, or the equivalent of over $900 for every person living in Nigeria . NHTSA’s estimate of economic costs includes productivity losses, property damage, medical costs, rehabilitation costs, travel delays, legal and court costs, emergency services, insurance administration costs, and costs to employers (NHTSA, 2010). <br></p><p> 1.2.&nbsp;<b>RESEARCH&nbsp;PROBLEM&nbsp;</b></p><p>In recent years, there have been numerous state and federal level efforts to improve the traffic safety situation in this country. With the passage of Reauthorization of Federal Transportation Funding, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), all states are now required to increase focus on safety performance targets, especially those involving fatalities and serious injuries. In spite of implementation of traffic laws, technological advances, and improved traffic education systems, the number of traffic fatalities has not decreased substantially. This indicates that although efforts are being made in the right direction, there is a lack of overall understanding of all the contributing factors and their interaction with each other.&nbsp;</p><p>Decision makers need to understand how various factors have affected highway fatality trends in order to implement the programs that make the best use of funds and personnel and to make progress toward meeting the safety performance targets. While many agencies are tasked with addressing transportation safety, each approaches the challenge of traffic crashes from a different perspective. For example, transportation officials are often tasked with identifying ways to improve the safety of the overall transportation system. By comparison, a police department focuses on enforcing laws and regulations to ensure that users of the transportation system are not placed in harm’s way by the actions of other individuals in motor vehicles. Lastly, public health officials focus on how to prevent injuries or how to treat injuries when they occur. Although different, each of these perspectives is critical to understanding the breadth of perspectives that can be brought to a discussion of traffic safety. Various explanations have been offered to account for the significant reduction in crashes in recent years.&nbsp;</p><p>Factors, such as increased safety belt usage, safer vehicles, better roads, increased funding for safety infrastructure improvements, the economic downturn, changes in teen licensing laws, enhanced enforcement efforts, and others, have been identified as possible contributing factors to the downward trend in accidents. To date, no comprehensive analysis of past research in traffic fatalities and factors contributing to the decline of fatalities has been performed. Without such a study of contributing factors accounting for the decline in accidents, it is difficult for highway safety professionals to know where best to direct their efforts and resources. Research is needed to provide information that helps optimize the allocation of safety resources in a more informed manner. This type of research will assist states in determining where to effectively apply their capital, operating, and human resources to continually reduce fatalities. This study is focused on studying and analyzing the factors contributing to traffic fatalities. This study investigated correlations between accidents and factors ranging from driver behavior to vehicle and road designs. The purpose of the study was to investigate and document the factors contributing to the traffic fatalities and to the decline in traffic fatalities respectively. This way, it will provide the comprehensive information to the state DOTs/safety personnel for helping them to develop more informed policies, structure, and decisions.&nbsp;</p><p> <b>1.3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></p><p>The objective of this research investigation was to perform a systematic literature review to provide a detailed analysis of the relative influence of the types of factors that contribute to the recent national decline in the number of highway fatalities in Nigeria. The study was also aimed at conducting research surveys of state DOTs to ascertain their prospective of factors contributing to traffic fatalities in the US This research would help transportation agencies and other safety stakeholders to optimize resource allocation and strategic decision making to further reduce highway traffic fatalities. The primary objective of this research was to determine the potential factors that played an important role in decreasing traffic fatalities directly or indirectly. The types of factors to consider include, but are not limited to, the following:&nbsp;</p><p>A) Road-user behavior,&nbsp;</p><p>B) Infrastructure,</p><p>&nbsp;C) Emergency response and trauma care advancements,&nbsp;</p><p>D) Policy enforcement,&nbsp;</p><p>E) Socio-economics and demographics,&nbsp;</p><p>F) Systems operations and management,&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>G) Vehicle safety advancements.&nbsp;</p><p>The objectives of the research are:&nbsp;</p><p>i. To conduct a systematic literature review to ascertain the various factors affecting traffic fatalities in the US transportation industry.&nbsp;</p><p>ii. To conduct a research survey of factors affecting traffic fatalities, code the data and use the Relative Important Index (RII) with statistical methods to analyze the data.&nbsp;</p><p>iii. To use the results of the research to make recommendations for decreasing traffic fatalities or “Zero fatalities.” <br></p><p> 1.4. Research Contributions&nbsp;</p><p>The research investigated factors affecting traffic fatalities directly or indirectly in the United States. The results of this research would assist transportation agencies and other traffic safety stakeholders in optimizing resource allocation and strategic decision making to further reduce highway traffic fatalities. Understanding these factors is helpful for transportation agencies and other safety stakeholders who work on research and policies aimed at minimizing fatalities. For achieving the goal of reducing fatalities to minimal or zero levels, extra attention needs to be given to road design. The research study provided information on factors that cause traffic fatalities directly and indirectly.&nbsp;</p><p>1.5. <b>RESEARCH QUESTION</b></p><p>This research consists of five chapters and appendices (IRB Approval and Survey Questionnaire).&nbsp;</p><p><b>Chapter 1</b> discusses the background, provides figures, and states the research problem and the objectives.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Chapter 2 </b>discusses the use of systematic literature review method to collect, compile and analyze previous studies on traffic safety and fatalities located in three major databases, namely Science Direct, Web of Science, and American Society of Civil Engineers. It also lists various factors contributing to the decline of traffic fatalities directly or indirectly in the United States.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Chapter 3</b> discusses the research methodology used; including a discussion of the research survey methodology.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Chapter 4</b> discusses the analysis methods and statistical methods used for the study, as well as the results obtained from the survey.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Chapter 5</b> discusses the conclusions, recommendations, and suggestions for future research. <br></p>