Road Safety Guidelines
T
he Asian and Pacific Region
A USEFUL DOCUMENT
For Transportation’s
officers and students
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
List of abbreviations used in the handbook
Chapter 1
Strategies of Road Safety
Chapter 2
Overview of the actual traffic situation in Ho Chi Minh City
Chapter 3
Safe planning and design of roads
Chapter 4
Role of public transportation regarding road safety
Chapter 5
Role of road traffic inspectors regarding road safety
Chapter 6
The Parts of drivers and transport modes regarding road safety
Chapter 7
System of transportation accessible for persons with disabilities
PREFACE
PREFACE
Traffic accidents -road accidents in particular- have become an issue of global concern;
every country, whether developed or developing, has to bear the burden of road accidents.
This has become a more serious problem for developing countries due to the increasing
number of vehicles, the speedy urbanization, the population overgrowth, the
disproportionate traffic infrastructure, and the road users’ poor compliance with traffic
laws.
Since the 1960's and 1970's, industrialized countries have succeeded in reducing the
number of traffic accidents, which proves that, thanks to governments’ interventions, traffic
accidents can be prevented, and human as well as property damages can be reduced.
These interventions involve different activities and sectors, in which the basic ones are:
Education, Law Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency preparedness, known as 4E.
In the design, construction and usage of traffic infrastructure, emphasis is now placed on
assuring the best conditions for drivers, so as to restrict drivers’ errors and traffic accidents.
Therefore, road designers and relevant organizations should be equipped with thorough
road safety awareness and knowledge.
Yet, in most colleges of Engineering, Transportation and Public Works in Vietnam,
students, technicians and engineers have not been provided with complete road safety
knowledge. This drawback will surely be overcome in the near future.
As part of a contribution to solve the above-mentioned drawback and to assist the relevant
personnel involved in the road safety field, this Road Safety Handbook has been developed.
We are supported by Handicap International-Belgium and the National Road Safety
Council-Vietnam, via training trips in Land Transport Authority of Singapore and Asean
Institute Technology of Thailand, while compiling this Handbook of Road Safety for
students and personnel involved in road safety field.
In the hope of providing basic road safety knowledge to road designers and users in our
country, we have collected information from different updated sources, especially from
Road Safety Guidelines for the Asian and Pacific Region by the Asian Development Bank
(ADB).
We highly appreciate the efforts of the authors and would also like to express our
appreciation for all the responses and comments to this publication, so that reviews can be
made to the second edition and other road safety publications can benefit from.
Thank you.
Secretary General
National Road Safety Council
Bùi Huynh Long
INTODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The dramatic unsafe traffic problem faced by the large cities of Vietnam can be considered
as a bad side effect of a rapid economical growth, due to the modernization of the roads
going along with an increasing number of motor vehicles (and particularly motorcycles).
When the same traffic facilities are used together by trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles and
pedestrians who are not prepared to these changes, the consequence is a disaster : the
‘modernized’ roads of Viêtnam have predictably become the major cause of brutal death
and injuries, which costs the country approx 900 millions USD each year in medical care
and lost earnings. This shouldn’t be considered as a fatality, or worse, as part of the country
folklore.
Between 2004 and 2007, a fruitful partnership between the Ho Chi Minh City Road Safety
Committee and Handicap International elaborated and implemented comprehensive
measures in the 3 most dangerous districts of the city knowing a typical situation :
population of rural migrants and enlarged roads used by all kinds of vehicles and
pedestrians.
The comprehensive approach included appropriate actions in the fields of Education,
Awareness campaigns, Enforcement, Victims assistance, and Engineering. Concerning this
challenging last aspect, the particularity of the urban Vietnamese context like the novelty of
the issue made necessary the elaboration of specific technical tools. Collaboration with the
Asian Institute of Thailand and the Land Transport Authority of Singapore enabled to fill
this gap, by producing these guidelines, a combination of international safety standards for
roads adapted to the particular Vietnamese urban context.
May this new Safety Guidelines Handbook be considered as a full part of the training of the
Road Engineers, so they can design the roads for helping people to communicate and
improve, not to die or become disabled.
DIRECTOR of Handicap International-Vietnam
Patrick Le Folcalvez
HANDBOOK
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE HANDBOOK
RS
ADB
MoT
TP
GDP
GIS
GPS
HI
HCMC
PO
TCVN
TCXD
RA
TRL
PC
USD
WB
WHO
Road Safety
Asian Development Bank
Ministry of Transportation
Traffic Police
Gross domestic product
Geographic information system
Global Positioning System
Handicap International
Ho Chi Minh City
Pacific Ocean
Vietnamese Criteria
Building Criteria
Road Accident
Transport Research Laboratory
People’s Committee
United States Dollar
World Bank
World Health Organization
HANDBOOK
ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLANS
Ngo Thuc Tinh, M.A.
Handicap International
This article was written based on “Road Safety Guidelines for the Asian and Pacific
Region” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as a general introduction to the
development of a road safety strategy and effective action plans for the Asian and Pacific
Region.
I.
THE ACTUAL SITUATION:
In the Asian and Pacific region, 235,000 road deaths occur annually, which is almost half
of the road deaths over the world. Because of underreporting on road casualties in the
region, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated about 3 million to 4 million
people were injured or crippled through road accidents every year.
The number of road deaths and injuries in developed countries has been reducing
steadily, while, in developing countries, it is rising at alarming rates. Between 1981 and
1993, the number of road deaths in the region increased by 95% whereas total population
increased by only 24 percent.
During the years from 1984 to 1993, statistics showed that more than 2 million people
were killed and more than 17 million were injured or disabled in road accidents. Many
have become handicapped for the rest of their lives, imposing financial burdens on their
families and communities.
Some of the major causes of road accidents in the region are:
- The number of road vehicles is increasing considerably, on an average of 16
percent to 17 percent annually; for instance, People’s Republic of China (18%),
Vietnam (18%), India (17%), Malaysia (15%), quadrupling in 12 years.
- The boost in two- and three-wheeled motorized vehicles
- Most drivers and riders are young and lack of road safety awareness.
To date, little concern has been paid to road accidents and damages caused by
them, which has imposed heavy burdens on the medical and hospital resources of many
countries. Failure to take immediate action in administration as well as in engineering
will condemn millions of people in the region to unnecessary death and injury.
In many developing countries, road accident deaths are the second largest cause of
deaths for the age group from 5 to 44 years, and the problem is now considered of
epidemic proportion by World Health Organization. Road accidents cost countries
between 1% and 3% of annual gross domestic (GDP). In developing countries in the
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Asian and Pacific Region alone, road accidents losses are about US$ 20 billion a year,
greater than the total annual lending to the region by the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank combined. These are recurring annual losses and they impose social
and financial burdens on those developing countries.
In the course of development of countermeasures and improvements to road safety,
particular attention should be paid to vulnerable road users (pedestrians, motorcyclists
and non-motorized vehicles).
II. THE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD SAFETY PLANS
Experiences in both industrialized countries and developing countries have shown that
the most effective way of reducing accidents is by adopting an integrated approach to the
development of national safety action plans. Though the countries are at different stages
of development regarding road safety awareness and activity, three distinct stages can be
identified, as follows:
Stage 1: Raising awareness
A national road accident database is needed and should be improved. The database
should include sufficient data for accurate assessment of factors such as human, vehicles
and traffic infrastructure related to road accidents.
The database should be utilized so that appropriate information can be circulated widely,
distributed to those concerned and particularly to organizations in a position to make
improvements to road safety issues. This is a requisite for activities raising road users’
safety awareness.
Stage 2: Prioritize Road Safety Action Plans
At this stage, organizations in a position to make improvements to road safety should
devise and carry out their action plans. There is a need of funding from the Government
and the entire society, implementation of pilot projects, external technical assistance (if
specialist expertise is lacking in the country) and training for relevant personnel.
The time scale for this stage is about 1-3 years, focusing on the improvement of RS
network and development of a five-year program
Stage 3: Five-year Road Safety Program
During this stage, significant investment is normally met by the Government of the
country. This stage aims to evaluate and consolidate the activities initiated in the earlier
stages, and put forward a realistic five-year program.
In Vietnam Road Safety Program has been devised and it includes the following sectors:
1. Management and Coordination of Road Safety
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2. Road Accident Data Systems
3. Participation of socio-economic organizations
4. Safe planning, design and usage of roads
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Improvement of black spots
Road Safety Education of Children
Driver training and testing
Road Safety Publicity Campaigns
Vehicle Safety Standards
Traffic Legislation
Traffic Police and Law Enforcement
Emergency Assistance to Road Accident Victims
Road Accident Costing
Reduction of motorcycle accidents and casualties
Participation of individuals and communities
In this program, casualty reduction targets should be set and relevant authorities be
assigned the responsibilities of achieving them. However, some countries in the region
have adopted targets similar to those stated in the industrialized countries while their road
network is still underdeveloped and vehicle ownership has not reached saturation level
yet. This has led to dishonest behavior in reporting and statistics. Therefore, these
countries are advised to use targets related to numbers of lives saved thanks to emergency
and medical services rather than targets related to reductions in total deaths or injuries.
Reductions in total deaths or injuries are unlikely to occur during periods of very rapid
motorization.
It is strongly recommended that all safety action plans be properly monitored, related
organizations and sectors be involved, measures be taken so as to reach targets costeffectively. Published evaluations should be widely disseminated to provide information
about relative effectiveness of the program and aid decisions about which types of plans
to be implemented or altered.
III. ROAD SAFETY SECTORS:
1- Management and Coordination of Road Safety
Road safety is a multidimensional social problem involving many government agencies,
so the state must play a leading role in initiating, organizing and coordinating the national
road safety action plans over the country. The following aspects should be taken into
account:
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Define responsibility, i.e. designate a government member (prime minister’s office or
ministerial task force) to be responsible for overall road safety policy
Establish a Management Board to initiate the formation of National Road Safety
Council. This should be led by a high-level civil servant or high-caliber executive
director from the private sector.
Establish the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) involving the ministries,
departments and sectors related to road safety (Transportation and Public Works,
Education, Health, Traffic Police ....) to be developed at all levels over the country.
The State’s planning and funding for the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) to
carry out its work
Evaluate the outcomes of actions
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Designate the prime minister’s office or a ministerial task force to be directly
responsible for RS policy issues, overseeing and evaluating the development of RS
strategy and action plans.
2. Establish a NRSC or similar body involving related ministries and departments, to
ensure technical and financial resources for the effective development and coordination
of road safety activities.
3.
Set up permanent group including RS specialists to assist the National RS Council.
4. Identify high-risk target groups for publicity and education from analysis of accident
data.
2- Road Accident Data Systems
An accident database is needed for accurate assessment of road safety situation. A
productive database needs to cover more than deaths and should include data on
casualties and the circumstances of the accident. This will help organizations that are able
to contribute to safety improvements to devise and implement appropriate measures to
solve the problems.
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The main processes involved in producing an accident database include an accident
reporting and recording system, storage and retrieval system, an analysis system, and an
effective dissemination system.
Traffic police are most ideally placed to record and manage accident data. However,
there is a strong need of adequate resources in terms of staffing, training, equipment and
computer systems. The data collected for all recorded accidents need to cover the
following:
- where accidents occur
- when accidents occur
- who is/ are involved
- the consequence of the collision
- the environmental conditions
- how accidents occur
It is important that the data be utilized as effectively and widely as possible. Police
annual accident statistics reports should be circulated widely and national decision
makers should use the data. They should also be made easily accessible to relevant
organizations for designing appropriate countermeasures, producing plans, monitoring
effectiveness, and carrying out research.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Review police accident report forms to ensure that necessary information is
included and can be easily retrieved. Forms should be uniform over the country,
so the nature and characteristics of accidents can be defined, and decision-makers
can devise appropriate countermeasures.
2. A computerized data storage and analysis system, an effective dissemination
system is needed.
3. Ensure accident data statistics and analyses are distributed to those able to affect
road safety and that they are used in designing and monitoring countermeasures.
3. Road Safety Funding and the Role of the Insurance Industry
Funding of road safety is the responsibility of the central government, supported by
local authorities. However, the private sector, especially the insurance industry can and
should play an important role in tackling road safety. But this is not yet done thoroughly
in some countries.
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Often, the insurance industry role is limited to post accident stage and vast sums of
money are spent on accident claim compensations while little concern and financing are
directed at road accident prevention. Increased motorization and the associated rise in
accident claims require the active involvement of the insurance industry, as it bears the
majority of road accident costs, and should assume greater responsibility for financing
and directly promoting road safety.
The insurance industry can participate by funding and sharing its business and marketing
skills to assist government in road safety issues. Insurance companies in many countries
such as Australia, Canada, Finland, and other European countries, have found that there
are significant advantages from investing in road safety, as the benefit in terms of
reduced claims (because of reduced numbers of accidents) often outweighs the amount
invested. The industry also benefits from an improved public perception of being seen as
a socially responsible industry
Other private organizations, especially fuel companies and organizations -with large
vehicle fleets and many drivers- can also help and profit by investing in road safety. The
State should actively seek and encourage their involvement
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. The State should actively seek and encourage the private sector (e.g. fuel
companies, transport agencies, especially the insurance industry) involvement in
funding relevant RS activities.
2. Make amendments to traffic regulations, requesting motor insurance on all
drivers, with 5-10% of premium, for instance, as a levy for road safety activities.
3. Motor vehicle insurance regulations should be enforced in order to achieve a high
rate of coverage and maximize insurance contribution to road safety
The investment of the insurance industry in road accident prevention can reduce outlays
in accident insurance claim compensation. The Government should encourage the
insurance industry and other private sectors involvement in the battle to improve road
safety.
4. Safe Planning and Design of Road.
In most developing countries, road networks are still being expanded or rehabilited;
therefore, during the planning and design stages, opportunities to incorporate safety
practices do exist.
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Many components of the design process can affect the level of road safety. Simply
adopting international design standards will not lead to high efficiency, because those
standards are accompanied by a developed system of law enforcement, driver training,
education and publicity, etc... Also, traffic conditions and types are different.
More emphasis, therefore, needs to be placed on examining how to make the road
network operate safely within the specific environment of each country.
In rural road rehabilitation, attention should be given to minimize direct access to major
roads and near Y- junctions. Limit low traffic speed when such roads pass dense
communities.
New roads should include safety features such as cycle lanes.
In urban areas, road hierarchy should be taken into account and speed limited where
pedestrian and cyclist activity exists.
On all roads, great emphasis should be put on safety features for vulnerable road users
(pedestrians, motorcyclists and non motorized vehicles).
According to Asian Development Bank, World Bank and other agencies, road safety
checking schemes during the planning and design stages can make considerable
contributions to reduce road accidents.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Require all proposed new and rehabilitation road schemes to be checked from a
safety perspective during the design stage.
2. Review existing design standards, access and development control to ensure
safety is given high priority, particularly for vulnerable road users.
Prioritize safety audit to ensure that road networks are designed to be safe, particularly
for pedestrians, motorcyclists and non motorized vehicles.
5.
Improvement of ‘Black spots’
Identifying black spots or hazardous locations through accident data analysis, on-site
investigations, and then designing appropriate remedial measures, all help to improve
black spots. These may be of low cost but highly effective.
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The effectiveness of this approach can be maximized by a planned program of remedial
measures based on accident reduction targets for authorities. The authorities need to
allocate a specific annual budget for their plans, or at least ensure adequate funding is set
aside within the maintenance budget.
A specific strategy is needed, as follows:
- Set a national program to solve black spots
- Short-term action plans
- Long-term plans
The stages of the hazardous location improvement process include:
- A good accident database
- Identification of black spots through data analysis
- Agreement on how to determine black spots
- Design and implementation of remedial measures
- Monitoring the effectiveness of remedial measures
Remedial measures include changes for better road signs, defining the different road parts
(road markings, pavements, roads, and lanes), zebra crossings for pedestrians, guardrails,
junction modifications and improvements to visibility. Traffic circulation restriction via
speed limit has proven to be effective where vulnerable road users are at risk.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Road authorities must establish and train a team to monitor the operational safety
and efficiency of their road network
2. Identify and improve the most hazardous locations on the major inter-urban road
networks according to annual targets.
3. Identify and improve hazardous locations on the road networks of all major cities
and towns according to relevant annual targets, focusing on speed reduction near
schools and dense areas with high numbers of pedestrians and non-motorized
vehicles.
Improvement of hazardous locations is one of the most cost-effective investments that
can be made and this should be given high priority by every government.
6. Road Safety Education of Children
On average, 20% of all people killed in traffic accidents in developing countries are aged
under 15. This is twice as high as in the developed world.
Human error plays a large part in road accidents, being a contributory factor in about
95% of accidents.
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-
Teaching safety skills to children can provide lifelong benefits to society.
Road traffic in developing countries is more unsafe than in industrial countries and traffic
safety problems faced by children are much greater. Absence of traffic education can
leave children exposed to unnecessary risk. Since the traffic circumstances and problems
faced by those children are different, it is inappropriate to simply use teaching materials
from developed countries. Local materials need to be developed. Although these may be
based on principles and materials from developed countries, they need to be adapted to
reflect the needs, problems, and circumstances of relevance to local children.
To improve road safety education, regular practical training is needed besides the
specialists’ talks. The following components are essential in developing road safety
education of children:
-
Inclusion of road safety in the school curriculum, appropriate to each age group
Development and production of teaching materials
Production of teachers’ guide and dissemination to all teachers
Inclusion of road safety in teacher training courses
Coordination of activities and clearly defined responsibilities
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Review current extent of road safety education in school curriculum and assess
adequacy and practicality of lessons and materials.
2. Develop road safety education pilot projects in high-risk areas.
3. Better RS Education nationwide, combining theory and on-road practice.
Children should be made aware of road safety and taught survival skills appropriate to
their age. Teaching of road safety in schools is best done by teachers who have
themselves been trained on road safety issues and can provide such instruction on a
regular basis to their students.
7. Driver Training , Testing and Licensing
Recent studies in the United Kingdom and the United States have shown that in about 95
percent of recorded accidents, driver error was a contributory factor in one form or
another. Therefore, the human factor is vital in tackling road safety problems.
Fundamental to this is an efficient driver training and testing regime. This regime must
not only be efficient and cost-effective but also trusted by the public. Regrettably, at
present, the systems in some countries fail to meet those three counts.
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Novice drivers are mostly those in the 17-21 age group. If thorough road safety training
and a more responsible attitude to driving are provided, long-term economic and social
benefits will surely be high.
Driver training and testing procedures are inadequate in many countries in the Asian and
the Pacific region and, with the rapid pace of motorization; urgent remedial measures are
required to improve the situation. The state should monitor the quality of driving
instructors, adopt an appropriate standardized driver training curriculum and ensure that
only safe, competent drivers are allowed on roads.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Ensure that the driving test examines the driver’s judgment, decision making, and
ability to drive safely on public roads in normal traffic conditions with stricter
tests for drivers of large vehicles.
2. Provide adequate training and staffing for driving examiners and ensure they are
taught to drive all vehicles to the highest standards.
3. Establish a uniform system of driving schools, organize training courses for
professional driving instructors and develop a standardized driver training
curriculum.
Effective driver testing is the best way to ensure that only safe, competent drivers are
issued driving licenses. Good control of driving schools’ and instructors’ registration also
helps to ensure that learners are given competent instruction.
8. Road Safety Publicity and Campaigns
Mass media has a profound effect on people’s daily lives, especially on city-dwellers’.
Therefore, effective road safety publicity will certainly influence road user behavior and
raise awareness of road safety issues. Well-planned publicity can influence both shortterm and long-term attitudes. For instance, publicity might deter drunk-driving because of
the risk of being caught by the police, but may also influence the long-term way a society
thinks about and accepts the need to deter such unsocial behavior.
Mass media publicity is costly-effective as it affects large numbers of people. However, it
can also lead to wasted resources if neither well-planned nor carefully-handled. Publicity
campaigns and selection of target groups should be based on road accidents data
analyses. In the absence of detailed data, awareness-raising campaigns may make the
situation more complicated.
Publicity should meet the following:
1/- disseminate new road safety laws and enforcement initiatives.
2/- disseminate new road safety standards together with new highway features.
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3/- disseminate new safety products.
Publicity should be appropriate to local conditions and should focus on a single concise
message. Where possible, the publicity should be part of a long-term wider strategy
aimed at creating road safety culture.
PRIORITY ACTIONS:
1. Road accident data must be analyzed to identify the nature and characteristics of
the problem, and the road user group to be targeted.
2. Publicity and campaigns should focus on a single concise message, and the media
materials and images used must be appropriate to local conditions and the target
groups.
3. Publicity campaigns should be accompanied by pre- and post-evaluations.
Road safety publicity is an indispensable part of any nation’s road safety strategy and is
most fruitful if used in conjunction with engineering, legislation and enforcement.
9.
Vehicle Safety Standards
Without vehicle construction safety standards for systems such as braking, lighting and
signaling, there can be little control over the general safety of the country’s vehicle fleet.
For public service vehicles, standards of comfort, access are also necessary. For heavy
goods vehicles, standards of size, gross vehicle weight, maximum loads, and exhaust
features are needed to ensure road safety and minimize damage to the environment.
Imported used vehicles should always be checked on arrival in a country to ensure they
comply with national safety standards. Statutory testing is needed at regular intervals,
focusing on the following factors: braking system, steering, tires and lights.
While there is no international fixed agreement on the time frame for road vehicle testing,
it is recommended that light vehicles in developing countries be tested after three or four
years and then annually. Public service vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and taxis should
be tested annually, and then every six months after 10 years of circulation. These are
recommendations for minimum testing frequencies.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1.
Vehicle inspections should focus on vehicle defects that most likely cause road
accidents.
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2. Checklists, assessment forms should be used.
3.
There should be regular training programs, uniform testing standards and
procedures between stations and inspectors to minimize corruption.
4.
There should be random roadside inspection checking involving the police and
vehicle inspectors to promote compliance with safety standards.
10. Traffic Legislation:
Traffic legislation regulates the use of public roads and is applicable to the circulation
and related activities of people, animals, and vehicles on the public highway. Within the
legislative system, traffic legislation should provide the basic features and framework,
and the details should be specified within legislative regulations (i.e. through ministerial
regulations).
This allows flexibility for periodic revision without disturbing the initial enactment. Such
revision aims to promote safer road user behavior.
Legislation specific to road safety includes the following:
- Driver testing and licensing
- Vehicle registration and testing
- control of traffic (speed limits, traffic signals, signs and markings, drink-driving
and pedestrians)
- Authority and responsibilities of road management sectors.
Penalty forms and penalty point systems should be
considered in terms of viability, to reduce administration work as well as avoid negative
effect on road users.
Drinking and driving is a proven cause of accidents. Legislative enforcement of
prescribed limit in the driver’s blood and breath has led to reductions of road accidents and
deaths in many countries.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1.
Consider the discrepancy between the existing Traffic Legislation and its
implementation, thus, identify areas that need to be revised and amended.
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2. As for countries where there is no specific Road Traffic Legislation yet, urgently
introduce traffic laws and enforcement regarding:
- speed limit for different types of motorized vehicles
- drunk-driving limits
- compulsory motorcycle safety helmet wearing
- compulsory seat belt usage
- compulsory motor insurance.
11. Traffic Police and Law Enforcement
Traffic law enforcement is needed to encourage safer road use and an orderly traffic flow.
Most traffic police forces in the Asian and Pacific region are characterized by insufficient
training, limited enforcement equipment or vehicles, and a high turnover of staff. Lack
of mobility often results in a preoccupation with traffic control at junctions; inadequate
attention has been given to the use of accident data in identifying common moving
violations and to solve them. Although staffing levels are often high, the lack of trained
and experienced officers reduces considerably the potential effectiveness of the traffic
police.
Training is needed in many areas, including: Traffic Management, accident investigation,
highway patrolling, motorcycle riding and car driving, and managerial skills. Traffic
police must be trained in both technical and policing skills so as to set good examples for
the public. Where possible, a career structure should be available in traffic policing to
allow officers to participate and specialize in additional training sessions. Control
systems should be established to allow the empowerment of junior police officers while
minimizing potential for abuse of power.
Modern enforcement equipment such as alcohol testing devices and radar speed detectors
should be provided. Traffic police personnel should be trained in their use and related
tactics and in enforcement strategies.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Traffic enforcement should be based on analysis of accident data, of groups that
are likely to break traffic laws, locations where accidents often occur, unsafe
driver behaviors and moving defenses.
2. Traffic police training should be expanded and improved to create a specialist
traffic police force skilled in use of modern equipment, tactics, and strategies, and
with the ability to conduct targeted and effective enforcement campaigns.
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3. Law enforcement should be evaluated basing on the efficiency and the achieved
targets, including prosecutions resulting from modern equipment, such as alcohol
testing devices and radar speed detectors
Traffic police must focus their attention on preventing road accidents.
12. Emergency Assistance to Road Accident Victims
In spite of the variety in application, there is general agreement on the principles of an
effective emergency medical service. The essential functions are as follows:
- Provision of rescue and first aid to the casualties at the roadside
- Transport of the casualty to a hospital
- Emergency care and subsequent treatment
The typical components of an ambulance service in a developed country include:
- A notification and communication system
- central control and coordination of operations
- effective rescue and medical aid at the scene
- transport to a hospital emergency department.
In many countries, an organized ambulance system is not available yet. Accident victims
are often transported to hospitals by the first available vehicle passing the site. In such
locations, efforts should be made to train the public, especially volunteers, in some basic
first aid actions to preserve the victims’ lives then have them transported to the nearest
health center as quickly as possible.
To ensure accident victims get the best emergency medical treatment possible, there
should be a review of the local situation for information on the available resources and
current usage patterns (e.g., how casualties arrive at the hospital and how long a time at
the scene and in transit). With data from a study of road accidents and casualties, and
transport to hospitals, short- and longer-term plans can then be made for the development
of a system suited to local situations.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Provide first aid information on treatment of accident victims (how to stop bleeding,
bandage dressing...) to all drivers (e.g., at the back of the Highway Guidelines, via
targeted publicity campaigns...)
2. Train police, fire squad and any other emergency service personnel in basic first aid
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3. Develop a local and regional emergency system based on the statistics of emergency
cases, damages caused by road accidents.
The key principle is to try the best during the ‘golden hour’ (i.e., the first hour after injury), to
provide basic first aid and initial stabilization to the road victims.
13. Road Safety Research
Road safety research is needed to clarify the current situation, so existing problems can
be identified and priority actions defined. RS research provides the framework of
knowledge against which policy decisions can be taken and countermeasures devised.
Accurate and comprehensive accident data is required to provide a base comparison for
identifying problems, evaluating any changes, assessing the effectiveness of any
countermeasures adopted. Therefore, improving the accident database is one of the first
priorities when seeking to establish a road safety research program.
Due to the complex nature of road accidents and the many different sectors involved in
the operation of road safety, local research is needed to provide a scientific and objective
approach to reducing the suffering and losses caused by road accidents. This is usually
best carried out by specialist researchers in universities or road research institutes, but can
also be done by others with an interest in road safety. Lots of researches have been done
internationally and many research findings are valuable.
Efforts should be made to identify the factors involved in road accidents and to monitor
the effectiveness of any countermeasures implemented. Of particular importance is the
development and monitoring of low-cost engineering countermeasures so that immediate
improvements can be made at high-risk locations.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Make a list of all local road safety research and the researchers and institutes
involved.
2. Target future research. Priority is given to improve the accident data system if the
existing system is inadequate to provide accurate assessment of the current road
situation.
3. Coordinate research with National Road Safety Council, the lead ministries and
departments in the country to ensure the research is relevant and findings can be
applied.
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Road Safety research has proven beneficial in documenting the road accident problems
and providing means to develop and evaluate countermeasures. It has contributed
considerably to the accident reduction in industrialized countries.
14. Road Accident Costing
The number of road accidents has been increasing in developing countries and the
Governments have had to spend great sums of money to deal with this problem. As it is
not easy to calculate financial damages of road accidents, it is hard to estimate how much
money should be invested each year on road safety countermeasures.
Identifying road accident costing means that:
1/ road safety is regarded as a priority by the Government
2/ the budget invested in road safety is an effective investment
3/ money invested on safety improvements is appropriate in relation to road accident
costing.
Though there are various methods for costing road accidents, the method currently
recommended for use in the developing world is the gross output approach.
This method takes into account the losses of resources such as vehicle damage, medical
treatment, administration costs, accident investigation costs, road repairs. It also attempts
to reflect the loss of human resources (loss to society in case the person is killed or
injured, pain and grief suffered by the victim and those who care for the victim.)
Accident costing is defined by degree of severity: fatal (with road death), serious, slight,
and damage-only accidents. The national cost of road accidents is determined by
multiplying the number of accidents of the year by the costs according to accident
severity.
Once the total extent of the human casualty toll and economic costs of road accidents is
known, the road safety situation will be better appreciated by decision makers, and
appropriate capital be invested in road safety. Road accident costs will be used to justify
safety measures, and be considered along with construction and maintenance costs in the
cost benefit analysis of road construction and improvement projects.
PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED:
1. Assume that the annual loss through road accidents in the Asian and Pacific
region is 1-2% of national gross domestic product (GDP)
2. While preparing for local estimates of the costs of road accidents, there is a need
to estimate road costs using the approach recommended by the Transport
Research Laboratory (TRL) of the United Kingdom.
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3. Assign a university or economic research institute to do a research on road
accident costs by severity using the gross output approach
An estimate of the total national cost of road accidents will help Governments realize the
heavy losses, thus invest in road safety improvements and see expenditure on road safety
as an investment rather than a cost.
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Overview of the Actual Situation of Road Traffic in
HCMC
Tran Huu Loc, B.A.
Public works and Transportation Service, HCM City
Traffic accidents, including road accidents, is a serious issue involving authorities
at all levels
In HCMC, about 1000 road deaths and 2000 injuries occur annually. According
to Asian Development Bank (ADB), annual losses due to road accidents in Vietnam total
approximately USD 900 million.
The effort to prevent traffic accidents has been made, however there are no
appropriate, economic and effective strategies yet.
In order to devise basic strategies, we need an accurate accident database system
and accurate information regarding the current situation of road traffic in Ho Chi Minh
City, which can be outlined as follows:
I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LOCATION OF HCMC:
HCM City, a city directly controlled by Central Government, is situated in central South
Vietnam, facing Binh Duong in the north, Tay Ninh in the northwest, Dong Nai in the
north east, Ba Ria Vung Tau in the south east, Long An in the south west, and Eastern
Sea and a 15-kilometer coastline in the South.
There are 24 districts and outskirts, 317 wards and communes. The 19 districts
are: District 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, GoVap, Phu Nhuan, Binh Thanh, Thu Duc,
Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Tan, and 5 outskirts: Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Nha Be,
Can Gio.
The covered area is 209.501 ha, in which the districts cover 4.900 ha, and
outlying areas 160.100 ha.
In 2005, the total population is 6.062.993, comprising 2.920.213 male and
3.142.780 female. The natural increase is 12 %o, mechanics increase is 20,97%o. The
population mostly gathers in the districts (5.094.733), the density here being 17 times
higher than that of the outskirts, and 3,56 times than that of the city population.
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II. THE INFRA STRUCTURE OF TRAFFIC SYSTEM IN HCMC
2.1. The road network:
The road network in HCMC consists of National Highways( or National Routes),
the province, inter-urban and urban roads. The total length of the roads and streets is
about 3.047 km, including 3132 routes, 21,524,117 m2 of road surface (up to 02/6/2005)
The traffic system in HCMC and can be described as follows:
+ The space reserved for traffic is low and uneven over the city. In Districts 1, 3, 5 the
surface for land traffic is from 17,4% to 21,4% of the urban land, but only 0,31 km / 1000
persons, due to high population density.
In the new districts such as 2, 7, 9, 12, Binh Tan and in the outskirts, the surface
for land traffic is much lower, about 0,2 - 3,1%, about 0,84 km/ 1000 persons.
+ The technical condition of the road system differs greatly from one place to
another.
+ The road system is developed disproportionately and there is no proper
classification of the roads. Most of urban roads are in the inner districts and are
particularly very dense in Districts 1, 3, 5. There are many avenues and connections.
There are also many one-way streets, which meets today's traffic needs. On the
contrary, between the new urban areas and National Highway 1A -where the population
is increasing rapidly- there are few major roads; therefore, the road system development
does not match the speed of urbanization.
+ Regarding the number of road lanes, the road system is inconsistent with
intersections and merging of streets of different widths and lane numbers. Most of the
urban roads are two-laned. Four- to-six laned roads have parts with fewer lanes. Roads
in the section between the new- urbanized area and National Highway 1A are mostly
one-laned. Many one-way streets merge into major roads.
+ Regarding the width, most of the roads are narrow with little space for
sidewalks or no space at all for pedestrians. 14% of the streets are 12m in width,
favorable for bus traffic; 51% are from 7m to 12m, favorable for car and mini-bus; 35%
are under 7m, just for motorcycle traffic.
+ Regarding the density of road network: It differs greatly from one place to
another. The density in the old urban area is 7,39 km/ km2; 2,40 km / km2 in the new
urban area; 0,4 km/km2 in the suburbs and city boundaries, and 0,48km/km2 in the
rural areas
+ Regarding the types of road surfaces: most of the National Highways are
asphalted, while streets in rural areas are not asphalted yet. Thus, rural traffic is mostly
on National Roads.
+ Regarding the conditions of road surfaces: 83,7% are in good and acceptable
condition; 13% in bad condition. About 25% of the streets are in degradation.
+ Regarding intersections: in HCMC there are over 1.350 intersections of 3-7
streets, among which 120 are important traffic spots of the 75 major streets. Most of the
crossroads suffer heavy traffic and difficult circulation. At present, the city has 9
intersections of different levels as Overpass Rail Station Crossroad (District 12),
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Overpass Tan Thoi Hiep (District 12), Overpass An Suong (D.12), Overpass Binh Phuoc
(Thu Duc District)
2.2. The Bridge System:
There are altogether 239 bridges with the total length of 12.988m, in which 32 are
of prestressed concrete, 118 of concrete and steel, 85 steel beam bridges with concrete
spans, the rest are Eiffel Bailey steel beam bridges. Most of the bridges are narrow, of
low weight, and need repairing or reconstructing. The weight of the bridges and that of
the roads are not uniform.
3. System of non-mobile traffic:
The system of non-mobile traffic in the city is poor and obsolete. The space for
non-mobile traffic, about 0,1% of the city area, is limited, small and dispersed. Interurban bus stations are located within the city boundaries, restricted in space, inconvenient
and they cause traffic problems.
- There are 5 inter-urban bus stations, covering about 15,08 ha.
- There are 3 lorry parks at Outskirt no. 2, covering 3,8 ha.
- Taxi parks cover 3,2 ha.
- The bus station round Ben Thanh Market covers an area of 0,22 ha and the
bus terminals are located in Eastern Station, Western Station, Cholon Station, An Suong
Station, The University of Agriculture in Thu Duc, Dam Sen Park, Suoi Tien Land …
+ There are 6 bus depots (technical stations), covering 8 ha in Go Vap, District
11, Tan Binh, Hoc Mon.
Up to 2020, the city needs to build 6 inter-provincial stations covering 79
hectares, including 3 stations that also serve for bus and Metro.
( Cf. Map of Road-Rail-Water Traffic Network in HCM City up to 2020)
III. THE TRAFFIC SITUATION IN HO CHI MINH CITY:
3.1. Land traffic
The system of outskirt roads has been planned but not constructed yet. Due to
the lack of such roads to link the routes towards and crossing central city, and to
properly allocate circulation into central city, traffic congestion occur s quite frequently.
Axes towards & across central city help shorten the traffic between central city
and other districts as well as suburban areas. However, those existing axes are not only
narrow and insufficient, but they are also major roads of the area. They suffer dense
circulation, heavy traffic and traffic congestion, specially at entrances and exits of the
city. They need improving and widening. The bottlenecks on those axes are
intersections of the same level with difficult circulation and no more space for widening.
There are now 9 intersections of different levels in construction.
Investment for bridges in the eastern and southern part of the city is slow
compared to the overall planning of development in these parts. This results in traffic
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congestion in such city entrances as Saigon Bridge, Tan Thuan Bridge, Y Bridge, Nhi
Thien Duong Bridge . .
In the northern part, while the populations of GoVap and Tan Binh Districts are
increasing rapidly, no new road axes to central city have been built yet.
The total transportation capacity via HCMC is 26.369.000 tons of goods, about
1/5 (19,5%) of the amount of goods, and 202.753.000 times of passengers, about 25,7%
of the amount of passengers in the country. Land transportation of goods is about 65%, of
passengers approximately 95%, which puts stress on the road system.
The outskirt road National Highway 1A ( previously 'Korean' Highway) functions
as a transit way, helping to avoid traffic across central city. National Highway 1A now
connected with Nguyen Van Linh Avenue, becomes the main road leading to Saigon
Port.
3.2. Railway traffic:
Here used to be a rather developed railway system in HCMC, with lines to My
Tho, Hoc Mon, Lai Thieu, Thu Dau Mot, Loc Ninh, and Di An Bien Hoa in the South,
with stations within the city boundaries, and railways direct to Saigon Port, New Port
for cargo transit and transportation. After the war, the North-South railway line has been
restored, while the other lines haven't been yet.
The North-South railway line enters the city passing by 5 districts: Thu Duc, Go
Vap, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, District 3; it is 20 km long, intersects 14 streets at the
same level , and accidents, congestion traffic often occur there.
Hoa Hung Station is a passenger station with a narrow platform, but is not
connected with bus lines yet, so it is not very convenient for passengers. Bus terminals
are near Ben Thanh Market.
3.3. Water traffic:
- The sea port system consists of 27 ports, among which Saigon, Tan Cang, Tan
Thuan, Ben Nghe ports are within the city boundaries, and VICT, Nha Be ports not far
away. The capacity of the ports reaches 24,2 million tons/ year. As there is no specific
road system connected to the ports, the urban road network is being used, which
results in frequent traffic congestion and affects the capacities of the ports.
- The network of river ports is very dispersed ; it is mainly alongside the Te and
Doi canals, of poor, obsolete technical condition, operated by hand and has low
capacity, about 1,8 million tons / year.
The 2 main river routes are on the Tẻ and Đôi canals. Connected with local
canals and rivers, they transport cargo between HCMC and the Western Region. The
river and canal network is rather compact but is encroached , and ship circulation is
restricted due to the narrow passage under the bridges, so does not form a constant and
beneficial water network.
Means of transport on rivers are insufficient in quantity and quality. Their
weights do not fit the needs and types of cargo water transportation, as well as the
conditions of the rivers, canals yet, specially for container ships.
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3.4. Air traffic:
There is only one airport in HCMC: Tan Son Nhat Airport. Its capacity is over
5,5 M passengers/ year. There is one take-off-and land-in runway, a second one is
being built. It covers about 816 ha, and is being upgraded and widened so as to reach
the capacity of 9 million passengers/ year , and 20 million passengers/ year in 2020.
The airport is located within the boundaries of the city; the streets Nam Ky Khoi
Nghia-Nguyen Van Troi- Truong Son from central city to the airport frequently suffer
traffic congestion.
IV. THE SITUATION OF ROAD ACCIDENTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY
In the past decade, 22.290 road accidents occurred in HCM City, causing
10.277 deaths and 23.263 injuries.
1.1. Current situation of road accidents:
From 1995 to 2006, 21.671 road accidents occurred in HCM City, causing
10.416 deaths, 23.509 injuries, and damaging about 30.000 vehicles, specifically as
follows:
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Year
1995
Number of cases
Number of deaths
Compared
Compared with
with the
the previous
Number
Number
previous year
year
of
of cases
Increase Rate deaths Increase Rate
Decrease (%)
Decrease (%)
1.556
-36
-2,26
618
+27
+4,56
Number of injured
Number
of
injuries
Compared with
the previous year
1.736
Increase
Decrease
+30
Rate
(%)
+1,75
1996
1.749
+193
+12,4
653
+35
+5,6
2.049
+313
+18
1997
1.765
+16
+0,91
671
+18
+2,75
2.080
+31
+1,51
1998
2.259
+494
+28
910
+239
+35,62
2.435
+355
+17,07
1999
2.418
+159
+7,03
912
+2
+0,22
2.657
+222
+9,12
2000
2.299
-119
-4,92
929
+17
+1,86
2.506
-151
-5,68
2001
2.519
+220
+9,56
1.224
+295
+31,75
2.738
+232
+9,25
2002
2.595
+76
+3,01
1.410
+186
+15,19
2.821
+83
+3,03
2003
1.847
-748
-28,82
1.078
-332
-23,54
1.925
-896
-31,36
2004
1.570
-277
-14,99
1.022
-56
-5,19
1.517
-408
-21,19
2005
1294
-276
-17.58
989
-33
-3.23
1045
-472
-31.11
: num of cases
: num of deaths
: num of injuries
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Subjects causing road accidents:
(Subjects/ accidents)
Factor
Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
First 8 months of
2005
Total
Bus
546
414
349
441
457
541
519
518
396
314
175
4700
2, 3
3 wheeled
wheeled Pedestrians
Motorbike
motorbike
bikes
863
54
93
0
1212
38
84
1
1227
40
81
68
1554
44
100
120
1774
46
59
52
1636
63
45
14
1856
55
37
52
1972
36
23
46
1366
19
21
45
1152
19
19
66
614
16
08
55
15.226
430
570
519
RATE OF VIOLATION ACTS:
Violation acts:
- Circulation in the wrong lane of street:
- Speed violation:
- Inappropriate direction change
- Not keeping safe distance:
- Not giving priority right:
- Sudden, Risk, self-cause :
- Over passing in the wrong way:
- Drinking and driving
- Pedestrians crossing the streets carelessly
- Wrong circulation in the closed or one-way
streets
- Drivers without driving licenses:
- Unsafe technical equipment
- Other causes:
Number of
cases
6.802 cases
4.780 cases
1.680 cases
1.451 cases
920 cases
908 cases
816 cases
646 cases
519 cases
361 cases
235 cases
81 cases
2.246 cases
Rate %
31,72%
22,29%
7,83%
6,77%
4,29%
4,23%
3,81%
3,01%
2,42%
1,68%
1,10%
0,38%
10,47%
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Places where accidents occurred:
(places / accidents)
Place
Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
First 8 months of
2005
Total
National Provincial
road
road
356
155
387
162
342
156
498
157
473
160
580
273
566
161
546
159
368
107
276
104
Urban
Road
912
1120
1089
1557
1745
1320
1722
1772
1242
1016
Other road
133
80
178
47
40
126
70
118
130
174
136
78
513
141
4528
1672
14.008
1237
The average road accident index per year over 10.000 vehicles in circulation:
according to international conventions regarding the number of road accidents, deaths
and injuries over 10.000 motorized vehicles, this has reduced considerably during the
past years, specifically as follows:
Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Number
Number
of road
of cases
transport
1.556
1.262.284 1.749
1.364.526 1.765
1.452.205 2.259
1.804.850 2.418
1.700.537 2.299
2.113.279 2.519
2.443.042 2.595
2.527.080 1.847
2.681.850 1.570
2005 2.894.685
1294
14,08
13,86
12,93
15,56
13,40
13,52
11,92
10,62
7,31
5,85
Number
of
deaths
618
653
671
910
912
929
1.224
1.410
1.078
1.022
5,56
989
A
4,26
3,81
Number
of
injuries
1.736
2.049
2.080
2.435
2.657
2.506
2.738
2.821
1.925
1.517
14,71
16,23
15,24
16,76
14,72
14,73
12,95
11,54
7,61
5,65
3,42
1045
3,61
B
5,59
5,17
4,91
6,26
5,05
5,46
C
4.2. Situation of railway accidents:
During the last ten years, 122 rail accidents occurred in HCMC, causing 99
deaths, 36 injuries, specifically as follows:
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Year
1997
Num of cases
Compared
Num
with the
of
previous year
cases Increase Rate
decrease (%)
14
Num of deaths
Compared with
Num
the previous
of
year
deat
Increase Rate
hs
decrease (%)
12
Num of injuries
Compared
with the
Num of
previous year
injuries
Increase Rate
decrease (%)
2
1998
12
-2
-14,29
10
-2
-16,67
5
+3
+150
1999
17
+5
+41,66
15
+5
+50
3
-2
-66,66
2000
9
-8
-88,88
6
-9
-60
2
-1
-50
2001
14
+5
+55,55
8
+2
+33,33
10
+8
+400
2002
22
+8
+57,14
18
+10
+125
7
-3
-30
2003
7
-15
-68,18
6
-12
-66,66
2
-5
-71,42
2004
19
+12
-171,4
16
+10
+166,66
4
+2
+100
First 8
months
of 2005
8
-7
-46,67
8
-5
-38,46
1
-1
-100
4.3. Situation of ship accidents:
From 1995 to August 2005, 623 accidents occurred in HCMC ( 50 cases are very
serious, 146 serious ones, and 427 less serious ones), causing 86 deaths, 20 injuries,
damaging properties worth 100 billion 761 million VND. Means of transport causing
accidents include 567 cargo ships, 16 sea ships, 11 fuel ships, 8 passenger ships, 21
small boats. Places where accidents occurred: 228 at sea, 344 on rivers, 51 on canals,
specifically as follows:
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Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
First 8
months
of 2005
Num of cases
Num of deaths
Num of injuries
Compared
Compared with
Compared with
Num
Num
with the
the previous year
the previous year Num of
of
of
previous year
injuries
cases Increase Rate deaths Increase Rate
Increase Rate
decrease (%)
decrease (%)
decrease (%)
77
9
5
+31
108
40
7
-2
-22,22
0
-5
cases
100,00
-29
79
9
2
28,57
3
3
cases 26,9
+6
85
7,5
8
-1
-11,11
2
-1
-33,33
cases
-42
43
3
-5
-62,50
2
0
0,00
cases 49,5
+5
48
11,6
8
5
166,67
2
0
0,00
cases
-1
47
-2,1
11
3
37,50
4
2
100,00
cases
-2
45
7
-4
-36,36
0
-4
cases 4,26
100,00
+5
50
11,1
15
8
114,29
2
2
cases
-21
29
-42
6
-9
-60,00
0
-2
cases
100,00
12
-17
cases
58,6
3
-3
-50,00
0
0
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4.4. Observations on the situation of traffic accidents from 1995 to August
2005:
Statistics of traffic accidents in Hồ Chí Minh City show that:
4.4.1 The number of rail and water accidents is very low as compared with road
accidents.
4.4.2 From 1995 to 2002: the number of traffic accidents was increasing
steadily, more accidents occurred each year than in the previous year, with more deaths
and injuries
From 2003 till now, the number of road accidents has reduced; fewer accidents,
fewer deaths and fewer injuries ( the number of accidents has reduced from 14,99% to
28,82%, the number of deaths from 5,19% to 23,54% , and injuries from 21,19% to
31,76% .)
From 2000 till now, over 10.000 means of transportation, the number of road
accidents , of casualties has been reducing. However, the situation of road accidents is
still very complex and has become a big challenge to society.
4.4.3 The number of accidents, deaths and injuries has swung in the proportion
2-1-2 (in every 2 accidents, there were 1 road death and 2 injuries). This means that the
number of road deaths and injuries in HCMC is still very high.
4.4.4 Objects causing road accidents:
That is in this order: two-wheeled motorcycles, cars, trucks, 4-seat cars, coaches,
bicycles and tricycles, three-wheeled motorcycles. Two-wheeled motorcycles account
for 71% of cases, 70-75% of road deaths and injuries, whereas in developed countries,
subjects causing the most cases are cars and vehicles of large capacity.
Recently, the number of pedestrians causing accidents is increasing
V. SOME POLICIES REGARDING ROAD SAFETY IN VIETNAM
To reach the goal of road accident and congestion reduction in urban areas, particularly
in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, big cities and towns, the Government should request the
Ministries, the People Committees of the provinces and cities that are directly controlled
by the Government, to implement the following solutions:
5.1. Complement, refine the policies and the planning of traffic infrastructure and means
of transportation development, specially in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, cities and towns;
prioritize the development of public means of transportation and minimize the use of
individual means.
5.2. Focus on investment, issue priority policies to promote the rapid development of
public means of transport in urban areas, of bus transportation for the time being. In
Hanoi, HCMC, cities and towns with high population density, state enterprises should be
established to fulfill the task of public transportation; specific policies should be issued to
stimulate different economic elements to join in, and encourage individuals to make use
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of public transportation. Offices, companies, enterprises with great amounts of employees
and workers that are located in areas lacking bus connections should organize
transportation by company or office buses.
5.3. Prioritize the financial allocation of investment on urban traffic infrastructure
development, focus on improving traffic bottlenecks, outskirts, roads crossing central
city. Quickly devise projects to develop the means of transport with high capacity such as
metro, mono rails . . .
5.4. At the same time work out measures to curb the increase of motorcycles, gradually
decrease the numbers of motorcycles in the urban areas, cities and towns.
National Road Safety councils together with Ministries of Hanoi, HCMC should devise
appropriate measures to minimize the increase of new motorcycles and stipulate
restricted roads, areas, time for motorcycle & bicycle circulation.
5.5. Enhance the enforcement of traffic legislation regarding road safety.
Implement measures such as:
- Strictly penalize motorcycle riders who do not have driving licences; terminate the
situation of non-licensed riders.
- Strictly penalize such behaviours as: riders not aged enough to be permitted to ride
motorcycles, illegal motor-racing, surpassing speed limit, dangerous ways of riding, not
wearing helmets on restricted roads.
5.6.
Frequently check and inspect the driving schools and driving-licence testing
operations. Confiscate the licenses of schools that do not meet the required standard,
suspend the operations of Testing Committees or individuals that violate the regulations.
Issue regulations and rules regarding the re-testing and changing of driving licenses
subject to appropriate routes.
5.7. Educate pupils to strictly comply with traffic law, road safety hierarchy, terminate
the situation of young pupils riding motorcycles to schools. Include road safety and
traffic law education in the school curriculum over the country.
5.8. Determine the technical standard of car exhaust and the lifecycle of passenger
coaches and trucks. Strictly penalize vehicles in circulation that do not meet such
criteria.
Closely supervise the registration operation of cars and strictly penalize the negative
quality controllers.
5.9. Revise, supplement traffic regulations, fees; increase the insurance premium for
responsibility of vehicle owners. Increase registration fees and circulation fees on all
vehicles in the cities and towns. Issue policies funding the development of public
transportation and investment on urban traffic infrastructure.
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5.10. There should be more traffic police forces with more enforcement equipment, and
adequate incentives to policemen directly in charge of road safety. Regular training
should be given to the traffic police, in both technical tasks of policing and in how to set
good examples for the public. Timely rewards for good examples. Strictly condemn cases
of abuse of power.
5.11. Mobilize central and local mass media agencies -Nhan Dan Newspaper, Vietnam
Television, Vietnam Radio Broadcast / Voice of Vietnam ...- to contribute in publicity
campaigns raising road safety awareness of all traffic users.
5.12. Related ministries and sectors, local authorities should devise programs, plans to
develop the implementation of the approaches mentioned above.
Provincial People' s Committees should take charge of clearing public locations that are
illegally occupied, such as encroached sidewalks, streets and safety passages in their
areas.
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References:
-
Report on General Scheme for the Socio-Economic Development of Ho Chi
Minh City up to 2010, by the HCM C People’s Committee (10/1996)
-
Report on Planning for the Transportation Development in Ho Chi Minh City up
to 2020 (Dr. Trần Luân Ngô)
-
General Scheme and feasible research on urban traffic and transportation in
HCMC ( Houtrans-6/2004)
-
Resolution 13/2002/NQ-CP dated 19/11/2002 by the State on Solutions to curb
the increase and to gradually reduce road accidents and traffic congestions.
-
Instructions 22 – CT/TW dated 24/2/2003by the Secretariat on : Strengthening
the Party’s Leadership regarding road safety issues
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ROLE OF ROAD ACCIDENT DATABASE REGARDING ROAD SAFETY
Pham Tu Thang, Engineer
Ngo Thuc Tinh, M.A.
Introduction:
There is a growing concern for road accidents in many countries over the world. A
complete and accurate road accident database is a must in the combat for prevention and
reduction of damages through road accidents. It is thanks to data analyses that questions on
‘where, when and how accidents occur’ can be elicited accurately. Aware that many human
and economic losses or burdens are directly caused by road accidents, many countries have
relied on road accident data analysis to devise safety improvement plans.
I/ What is an accident database system ?
An accident database system includes :
1. An accident recording system
2. A Storage and retrieval system
3. An analysis system
4. A reporting and dissemination system
1/ an accident recording system :
It is generally recommended that a single unit should be in charge of the accident data
recording system, and the traffic police are the most suitable one.
The recording system consists of:
1.1
Road accident data
1.2.
Locating the site of the accident
1.3.
Describing the place of the accident
It is unlikely that all accidents are recorded by the Traffic Police. The number of
unrecorded accidents varies from one country to another. From some countries’
perspectives, only serious accidents are to be recorded, or accidents are recorded by
severity or according to the types of roads where accidents occur. The figures from
hospitals and the health sector will adjust the statistics of accidents –may be higher or
lower.
The underrecording of road accidents is an itching issue in developing countries, whereas
in developed countries, clear regulations on road accident recording exist, which
encourages accident reporting and stipulates insurance compensation.
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1.1
-
Road accident data :
Though there is no universal
recording form yet, the data collected for all recorded accidents should include
the following :
a/- place where the accident occurred : street, position on the map etc...
b/- time when the accident occurred : specific date (day, month, year), time
c/- related factors such as : victim(s), person(s) involved, means of transport,
obstacles, sidewalks ...
d/- the result of the accident : degree of severity (fatal, serious, light ..)
e/- the environmental conditions, such as lighting, weather, condition of road
surface, type of road ...
f/- how and why the accident occurred.
Data should be collected from different claim sources, compared and contrasted
for coincidence. So, the above-mentioned information is needed for an accurate
accident database.
A computer-based accident recording system with software programs is needed.
The software should be created basing on nationwide report forms and should be
easy to use, to share with another program or national network.
Examples :
Software for road accident recording based on the Vietnamese national form, and
created by Handicap International for some districts in Ho Chi Minh City.
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-
Software for data recording of the health sector.
1.2 Locate the site of the accident : Positioning accurately the location where the
accident occurs is vital. Contributory factors to locate an accident include :
1.2.1. Map
1.2.2 Positioning in the X,Y coordinates system on the map
1.2.3 Milestone number
1.2.4 Other identification features
1.2.1. Map
GIS Map is the most suitable
1.2.2 Positioning in the X,Y axes on the map.
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This can be made by hand basing on the on-site milestone, however, if possible,
GPS positioning on the GIS map is simple and more efficient. Positioning the
location of the accident in the x,y coordinates system on the map is encouraged.
This enables the connection of many factors and pieces of information. It is
advised to set 10 meters as the unit of the x,y coordinates.
Examples :
Map with X,Y axes of the Traffic Police of India.
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Positioning on GIS map the locations of the accident, of black spots using
management software MAAP of Transport Research Laboratory of the UK.
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1.2.3 Milestones :
It is often difficult to position accidents that occur in the countryside on the map.
Such accidents are usually positioned basing on the milestone available on the
road.
1.2.4 Other identification features :
At places not easily identified on the
map or without any milestone, the positioning can be based on other
identification features such as lamppost, numbered spot of underground sewage
or electricity pipe.... It is advised that these features should not be as far as 100m
from the place where the accident occurred.
1.3 Describe the place of the accident :
Such description is best done in two steps :
1/- Sketch of the place where the accident occurs
2/- Free description including all related details
2/ An accident storage and retrieval system :
The data recorded, whether manually or computerized, should be stored carefully and
readily accessible and retrieved for usage and analysis.
Data are the nation’s valuable resources, which cannot be recovered in case of loss. Data
storage and retrieval tasks, which are often neglected , are very important ones, particularly
now that hackers might damage or retrieve data from servers. Therefore, the following
should be noted for computers storing data :
- No internet access, intranet only for computers recording and storing data.
- No intrusion of game, music discs or others
- Daily data should be stored on discs. In case the servers have problems or lose data,
these will help recover the data.
- Staff in charge should be competent in operating computers and dealing with
software problems.
3/- Data analysis system
There are two forms of data analysis :
1/- general analysis
2/- specific deep analysis
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It is advised that data analysis be carried out on a national basis, so each area can use it to
solve specific local problems.
General analysis :
This should be readily accessible, easy to use and to understand, and provide a great
amount of information which helps RS professionals grasp the general situation. This
should better be set in form of charts, tables and diagrams. These are visual aids displaying
the relation between different pieces of information.
Example1 : Road Safety General Analysis Table using MAAP, Transport Research
Laboratory, UK.
Example 2: Diagram showing the connection between population growth, vehicles, road
accidents and deaths in Cambodia
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The general analysis, subject to the user’s need, can be done quickly via charts and
diagrams
Specific deep analysis
Specific analysis, up to the user’s need, is totally dependable on the details, variety and
accuracy of the data.
Specific analysis can be easily done once data recording and storage are complete.
Many soft wares for specific analysis are now available: SPSS, Excel, etc..., or they can be
self-designed.
4/ Data reporting and dissemination system:
The last step of the database system is to disseminate the processed, analyzed data. This
step should be legal and regular via periodical, annual or ad hoc reports.
This only aims to provide information, not to evaluate things. Information should be
disseminated widely, not only to all the related departments and individuals, but also to
neighboring countries and worldwide for exchanges on common issues and to avoid waste
of research from scratch. In addition to data statistics and analyses, certain findings also
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need analyzing as this helps related sectors to supplement information and make
improvements.
The need for a road accident database system
Road accident is internationally defined as follows:
“Road accident is a rare, random, multi-factor event that is always preceded by a situation
in which one or more road users have failed to cope with their environment , resulting in a
vehicle collision.”
It is ‘a rare event’ because the proportion between the occurrences of accident and the
numbers of vehicles moving at a certain place is low. It is ‘a random’ because there is not
any index forewarning and preventing the accident. However, many researches have proven
that this ‘random’ event often occurs at certain places such as road intersections, national
road where there is direct access from minor roads etc...., or to road users of a certain age
group.
Although the causes of accidents are ‘multifactoral’, there are likely to be common factors
(reasons) such as: road structure not quite up to the mark, driver lacking necessary skills ...
Though road accidents are considered ‘rare, random, multifactoral’ events, the database
reveals they have many common features. The road data system is the key sector for
leaders to identify the main causes of accident and take appropriate remedial actions to
solve the common problems.
It also works as a base for governments to issue accurate and feasible road safety policies.
The road accident database can also be used by others: road safety professionals, civil
engineers, traffic police, lawyers, researchers, politicians, teachers, statisticians, insurance
companies, and members of socio-economic organizations. To them, the database helps to:
1/- conduct investigations, surveys on the black spots and the road user groups that often
cause accidents.
2/- incorporate safety practices during the planning, design, maintenance and repair of
roads.
3/- determine the routes of highways.
4/- devise traffic law enforcement plans.
5/- create road safety teaching materials and design forms of publicity.
6/- meet insurance compensation claims.
Moreover, the key objective is to prevent and reduce damages caused by road accidents.
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To sum up, the road accident database is the gauge, the basis for road safety evaluation.
Without road accident database, policymakers and researchers would not be able to define
the scale and nature of road safety accurately and scientifically.
As mentioned above, each accident is affected by various factors. And the database is
needed for accurate identification and assessment of the factors involved, thus appropriate
measures can be devised and implemented. Database must be accurate and relatively
complete.
This article is adapted from “Road Accident Data System”, Road Safety Guidelines for the
Asian and Pacific Region Asian Development Bank.
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INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN TO ASSURE
ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY
Nguyen Ba Hoang, PhD
The University of Communication and transportation,
HCM city
Ngo Hai Duong, engineer
The Department of communication and public works,
HCM city
1. The role of infrastructure design to assure road traffic safety.
The reasons which cause road traffic accidents usually comprise of 3 main factors: human
factor, infrastructure factor and vehicle factor.
Human factor
95%
Infrastructure factor
28%
Vehicle factor
8%
In infrastructure design to assure road traffic safety, it is possible to mention these
elements:
1. Geometrical design of the road line
2. Road surface design.
3. Road bed design to assure traffic safety.
4. Traffic junction design to assure traffic safety.
5. Measures to help human and vehicles to control and master speed such as : speed
humps, road roughening, painted speed bumps, appropriate traffic stream division
6. Traffic safety equipments and instrument on the road such as : road sign boards,
road paint stripes, lanes, median strips and signal lights.
7. Monitoring facilities such as cameras, speed detectors.
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In road design, these Vietnamese standards are in force:
- “Automobile road – Design Requisites” number TCVN 4054 – 2005.
- “Motorway – Design requisites” number TCVN 5729 – 1997
- “Procedure of the Soft Road surface design”, number 22 TCVN 211-06.
- “Procedure of the Hard road surface design” number 22 TCVN 223-1995
- “Regulation of road traffic signs” number TCVN 237-01
Recently in many project, the ASEAN automobile road design standards and the
American design standard “Automobile road and city street” (AASHTO) are also applied.
The American design standards “Automobile road and city street” firstly introduced
in 1954 has been amended and reprinted many times.
ƒ The present newest version (AASHTO - 2004) addressed much on the aspects of
geometrical design of the road line to protect traffic safety which we use as a basis for
our branch standard, number 22 TCN 273 – 2001 of the ministry of communication
and transportation.
2. A number of the basic points of the standard “Automobile road – the design demands
of design” number TCVN 4054 – 2005.
2.2. Sphere of application
The standard “automobile road, the design demands” number TCVN 4054 – 2005
stipulates the demands of design for the works of newly build, reform and upgrade
automobile road. Besides this standard, when we design specialized used automobile roads
such as : motorways, municipal streets, mine exploitation roads, forestry roads and other
kind of specialized roads, we have to follow other specific standards, but we can apply this
standard to the classes of roads which are appropriate when we design inner city traffic
road.
When designing the construction of roads related to other constructions such as :
railway, irrigation, hydro electricity, waterway, historical vestiges, natural conservation
etc.., it should comply with the state regulations in force, and approved by related
authorities and bodies.
2.2. General regulation
2.2.1. The design requisites
The main points of this regulation are :
a. When designing, the designer has to comply with the standard of the
regulation and has to implement all sided research to design an effective, safe
road line with a long and sustainable development orientation.
b. The designer has to combine many elements such as leveled map or graph
and horizontal cross section to create a regular, balanced road line in space, also
to assure convenient visibility range for the running automobile, assure stability
of mechanics, assure the ecological balance and environmental protection. The
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designer also has to try his best to make the future road a positive contribution to
the beauty of the landscape where the road line is placed.
c. Automobile road from class 1 to class 3 should avoid to run through the
populated areas, the road should be placed separately from the local traffic. The
road to the city needs to rely on the all - sided planning of the city to design.
2.2.2. The designed automobile
Except for caterpillar vehicles, all the traffic means which don’t violate the
size of designed automobile as stipulated in table 1 are permitted to run on the
automobile road.
Vehicle with one of the dimensions exceeds the regulation standard as
stipulated on table 1 is considered as a special vehicle. Only after being granted
permission by the management agency, it can be circulated following a special
status.
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Table 1 : The dimensions of designed automobile
Unit : meter
Vehicle
types
Small
automobile
Truck
Articulated
Lorry
Total
length of
vehicle
Total
width of
vehicle
Height of
vehicle
Protruding
front
Protruding
back
Distance between vehicle
axles, cluster of axles.
6.00
1.80
2.00
0.80
1.40
3.80
12.00
16.00
2.50
2.50
4.00
4.00
1.50
1.20
4.00
2.00
6.50
4.00 - 8.80
2.2.3. The flow of designed automobiles
The flow of designed automobile is the amount of small automobiles converted
from other kinds of automobile, passing through a section in an unit of time, this unit of
time is of future year which is defined as the 20th year after the road was brought into use
with the newly built designed road and fifteenth year (15th) with the upgraded or reformed
designed road. The conversion rate from all kinds of vehicle to small automobile are shown
in table 2
Table 2: the conversion rate from all types of vehicle into small automobile
- For the plain or hilly regions
Type of vehicle
Type of
vehicle
Conversion
rate into
small automobile
For the plain and
hilly regions
For mountainous
regions
Bicycle
Motor
cycle
Small
automob
ile
2 Axes
Truck
and
under
25seats bus
0.2
0.3
1
2.0
2.5
4.0
0.2
0.3
1
2.5
3.0
5.0
Truck having 3 Articulated lorry
Axes and above and carriage
and large bus
pulled bus
2.2.4 Road class
Roads are classified into many classes based on their functions as stipulated in
column 1, table 3. This classification is used in management works, exploitation and repair
of roads.
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Designed
class
Flow of designed
vehicle(converted
to small
automobile)
Calculated speed Vtt
km/h
Plain
region
Motor
way
>25.000
I
>15.000
120
II
>6000
100
Number of
Mountainous driving
Main functions of the road
region
lanes
requested
Main arterial road designed
following the standard TCVN
5029-1997
Road connects large economic,
6
political, cultural
4
III
>3000
80
60
2
IV
>500
60
40
2
V
VI
>200
<200
40
30
30
30
2
1
Centers of the nation national
road.
Road
connects
economic, political, cultural
centers of the nation, of local
areas, National road,.. .
Road connects economic,
political, cultural local areas,
commodity production places,
the
markets,
residential
quarters, National road, ..
Road serve local traffic, …
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To decide the technical classes of the road, it is necessary to base on the functions of each
road on the topography of the region where the road line is laid, and on the flow of
Designed speed (km/h)
Elements
designed automobiles in order to achieve high economic effectiveness and the public
serving aspect. The technical classification has its own demand of the standards to have
reasonable investment level and to bring high economic effectiveness
2.3. Horizontal cross section
The surface of the road floor includes: the vehicle running parts, roadsides, road
divided strips and climbing slope assistant lanes, speed change lanes.
- Road of class I,II; With these roads , it is necessary to have separate lanes for
bicycles and primitive vehicles
- Roads of class I, II have median strips, road class III do not have median strips. The
entry or exit of the roads has to be controlled and limited, at least 5km distance from
each other and it is necessary to organize reasonable traffic.
- The pavement of road of class I,II,III, IV and V must be reinforced, the best is to
reinforce of the total width of the pavement.
Elements
-Vehicle running part(m)
-Pavement part(m)
(reinforced part)
30
1x3.50
2x1.50
40
2x2.75
2x1.00
(2x0.5)
Designed speed (km/h)
60
80
100
2x3.50 2x3.50 4x3.75
2x1.00 2x2.50 2x3.00
(2x0.50) (2x.20 (2x.2.50
0)
)
1.50
120
6 x3.75
2x3.50
(2x3.00)
-Width of the middle
3.00
divided strip (m)
-Minimum width of road
6.50
7.50
9.00
12.00
22.50
32.5
floor
TABLE 4: the minimum elements of the horizontal cross section for plain and
hilly topography
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60
2x3.00
40
2x2.75
30
1x3.50
20
1x3.50
Vehicle running part (m)
(of the road floor)
Pavement part(m)
2x1.50
2x1.00
2x1.50
2x1.25
(reinforced part)
(2x1.00)
(2x0.50)
(2x1.00)
Minimum width of road floor
9.00
7.5
6.50
6
TABLE 5: The minimum elements of the horizontal cross section for mountainous
region topography
2.4 Leveled map of the horizontal cross section and the co-ordination of the road line
elements.
2.4.1 The main technical standard.
The main technical standard of all classes of automobile road are stipulated in table
6.
TABLE 6: The main technical standards of automobile road
Order
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Criteria
Super high slope level, %
Minimum curve radius
with the highest super high
(m)
Ordinary minimum lying
curve radius
Lying curve radius without
super high, m
Braking visibility range, m
Visibility range in front of
opposite vehicle
Car passing visibility range
,m
Minimum convex curve
radius, m
Minimum concave curve
radius, m
Designed speed (km/h)
20
30
40
6
6
6
15
30
60
60
7
125
80
8
250
100
8
400
120
8
650
50
60
125
250
400
700
1000
250
350
600
1.500
2.500
4.000
5.500
20
40
30
60
40
80
75
120
100
200
150
210
100
150
200
350
550
200
400
700
2.500
4.000
6.000
11.000
100
250
450
1.000
2.000
3.000
4.000
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10
Highest horizontal sloping 11
level, %
9
(10)
7
(8)
6
(7)
5
4
3
Note: Horizontal sloping level criteria: the numbers in the bracket ( ) apply to roads which
pass through mountainous region
2.4.2. Visibility range:
The visibility range calculated from the driver’s eyes is defined as below
- Height: 1.20m counted from the vehicle running part of the road surface to the
driver’s eyes.
- Width: 1.20m counted from the driver’s eyes to the right edge of the automobile.
- Obstacle is defined as:
1/ A static obstacle when its height is 0.10m on the road surface
2/ An automobile running on the contrary direction with a height of 1.20m on the
road surface
- It is compulsory to have the measure to assure visibility range (dismantle the
obstacle; dig to lower the high slope layer of the road). In the case of extreme
difficulty, it is possible to use the traffic organizing measures (speed limit,
instruction board...etc…)or to prohibit car passing.
- It is compulsory to investigate the visibility range at traffic junctions and at small
radius curves
- The obstacles have to be dismantled in order to have a height 0.30m lower than the
visibility beam of the driver (1,2m).
2.6. Junction
2.6.1. Traffic junction of different level
2.6.1.1. Definition and classification
Traffic junction of different level is a junction which is constructed with many
constructions flyover (bridge, underground road) to help the automobile to pass into another
traffic road.
Traffic junction of different level can be divided into 2 types:
- Traffic junction of different level with branch road (intercommunicate)
- Traffic junction of different level without branch road (direct communication). This
type of junction is used when there’s no need for the vehicle to change direction or
when this need is only a co-incidence, unexpected, doesn’t worth to mention, and
can be changed to the next junctions.
2.6.1.2. The scope of using traffic junction of different level
The using of traffic junction of the same level on automobile road line is popular. Only
consider the construction of traffic junction of different level on road with calculated speed
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of 80km/h and the economic technical theoretical foundation of this construction has to be
passed and approved.
2.6.1.3. In the traffic junction of different level, the decision to choose flyover line or
underground creeping line to construct bases on 2 principles:
- Grant priority to prioritized road.
- Easy to construct and bringing economic benefit
2.6.2. Traffic junction of the same level
- Types of traffic junctions of the same level and their sphere of using:
Traffic junction of the same level can be divided into these types:
- Simple junction (can be enlarged)
- Junction having an islet on assistant road.
- Junction having an islet and left – turn lane on the main road
- Bracelet form junction
- Junction having control lights
- The sphere of using different types of traffic junction of the same level is shown in
table 9
Table 9: The sphere of using different types of traffic junction of the same level
Flow of designed automobile Flow of designed automobile on the assistant road; stipulated number
on main road; stipulated
of automobile / road floor
number of automobile/road Simple junction Junction having Junction having
Other types
floor
islet on
islet and left
assistant road, turn lane on the
enlarged
main road
≤ 1,000
≤ 500
500 ÷ 1,000
≤ 2,000
≤ 500
5,000 ÷ 2,000
≤ 3,000
≤ 450
450 ÷ 1,000
1,000 ÷ 1,700
≥ 1,700
≤ 4,000
≤ 250
≤ 250
250 ÷ 1,200
≥ 1,200
≤ 5,000
≤ 700
≥ 700
> 5,000
≤ 400
≥ 400
Bracelet form junction is considered to use when there are many roads load to the junction.
It is not encouraged to use control light at this junction on automobile road, especially with
road having calculated speed of 60km/h and above.
2.7. Traffic safety equipments and instruments on the road.
2.7.1 Signal board
- The system of signal board on the road has to implement these principles.
Unification: The signal boards on the road lines and on the road network nationwide have
to be unified in their figure, size, symbol, size of letters, colour … etc …
The names of the localities written on the instruction board also have to be unified,
absolutely not to incur the suspect feelings for passers by.
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- Easy to road, easy to see: the board has to be easy to read even in bad climate conditions.
The quality of materials, paints … etc … has to strictly in accordance with the regulations.
Light – reflected boards should be used on the roads with no illumination. The boards have
to be placed at easy – to – see positions, not to be hidden. When the automobile running
part of the road has more than 4 lames, the board should be hanged on the shelves of the
dragon gate or on high pillars
- Neat, easy to understand: the internationalized symbols should be used instead of letters,
the sentences and the letters have to be very neat. On the tourist roads, it is permitted to use
not more than one foreign language on the instruction boards.
- In time: the signal boards should be previously inform, therefore the driver could act in
time before coming to the place which needs to act.
2.7.1.2. The co – ordination between the boards.
The system of signal boards on the road have to provide enough information on the road
situations safety conditions for the driver on the road, at the places which need to provide
many information, several boards can be put in combination on a pole or pillar, but not to
exceed 3 boards. Information have to be provided precisely following the prioritized
procedure order: board for prohibition, board to inform dangers, board to inform the order,
board to give instruction.
The board couldn’t have contrast content with each other, boards which lost its effects have
to be removed in time.
2.7.1.3. Board size, colour, letter pattern, symbol.
These characteristics of the signal boards have to strictly follow the regulation of road
signal number 22 TCN – 237.
2.7.1.4. It is strictly forbidden to introduce the symbol, icons, letter which aren’t introduced
in the regulation of road signal into the boards.
On the motorway or the road participated in GMS system, which the instruction board uses
letters, besides the writing in Vietnamese, the writing in English is also used below the
Vietnamese letter line. Instruction boards on the motorway have green colour background
while the letters are of white colour.
2.7.2. Signs which are ruled on the road
- The ruled signs on the have to be unified with the signal boards in order to provide
the correct information for road – users.
- Signs lost its effectiveness or are contrary to the real conditions have to wipe out or
to cover.
- Signs which are ruled on the road have to follow the regulation 22 TCN 237
“Regulation of road signal”.
- Materials use to rule the signs on road. It is possible to use these materials:
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•
Light reflection hot paint or other corresponding materials. The implementing
agency has to assure that the road is not slippery in all climate conditions, the paint
dries quickly, and least erosion.
• When using light reflected hot paint, headed nail… the thickness of these materials
couldn’t be 100 mm higher than the road surface.
- Letters to be ruled on road:
Letters to be ruled on road must be very neat and limit within 1 word line at best.
The height of the letter have to be based on running speed of the automobile and the height
of the driver’s visibility range (1.20m).
A number of points which need to pay attention to in road line geometrical design
following the American design point of view AASHTO:
It is clear that the geometrical design of the road line (which the factors of visibility range,
designed speed, dynamic stability of the automobile on the road… etc…) has a very close
relationship with traffic safety. The formulas to calculate the visibility range were carefully
research on in the AASHTO versions, especially AASHTO – 2004.
• The mind responding visibility range are also introduced into research and
application because in modern society, there are increasing volume of information
daily, which the driver have to solve on the road.
• The passing visibility range. ( PSD Passing sight distance). This is the compulsory
visibility range with 2 lanes road. Research on this visibility range is now
concentrating on the affirmation of a maximum distance in the process of passing an
automobile where the implementation of passing might be abolished, the passing
vehicle is forced to return to the former lane to assure safety. This is the crucial
stage to affirm the passing lane, length of the passing prohibition zone.
• According to the Canadian statistics, the number of accidents caused by head to
head conflict when passing a vehicle account for only 2% of accidents in general,
but account for 17% total number of traffic accidents in particular.
• The methods to evaluate the already-have-visibility range on the lying curve and the
solutions are also being researched on. The reality shows that even though the
visibility range is already decided in the standard, but AASHTO still recommend
the using of geometrical method to investigate visibility range to absolutely assure
traffic safety.
In design work, to evaluate the visibility range already existed on the standing curve, people
use the method which uses the formula to calculate the radius of the standing curve based
on the demands of day time and night time visibility range on these curves.
It is necessary to know precisely which part of the road line is hidden.
To give the answer, the methods to evaluate the line in stereoscopic space ( 3 – D) are
developing and there are 2 methods:
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-
The method 3-D graphic: Using the graphic software to reconstruct the line for
observation, however this method costs a lot of time to affirm precisely the visibility
range and another shortcoming is the serious lack of visibility range
- The method of using limited elements ( net of models ). This method is developed
by the University Carleton, Canada which permits quick, precise, concrete analysis
about the lack of visibility range in the design of 3-D line.
4. A number of measures to decrease speed of traffic means and reinforce traffic
infrastructure to assure traffic safety
1. Speed decreasing mound: It decreases the traffic speed, especially useful for roads in
residential areas, close to hospitals, schools where there are many persons walk across the
roads.
2. Shock paint: it decreases the vehicle speed when the vehicle is coming close to 3 way or
4 way cross road, especially when the vehicle from the national road drives into the city,
passes the residential quarter.
3. Painting and signal board: Painting and signal board, instruction board, board to inform
dangers, board to inform that there’re people who are working at a construction site; all
these paintings and boards have to obey strictly the stipulation in the standard “ Regulation
of road signal” number 22 TCN 237. They also have to be read easily, be clearly, be seen
easily and in time.
4. Bridge and Underground tunnel for street – walker. This is a pressing, urgent, most
necessary problem for municipal traffic in big cities of our country. Besides the city’s
planning, the construction of bridges which assure safety and exactly following the
standards, we have to pay attention to educate the traffic participants to implement correctly
the regulation when participating in traffic, even with the street walker when they cross the
road for the assurance of traffic safety.
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Speed decreasing mound
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Bridge for walker
References
-
Tiêu chuẩn “ Đường ôtô- Yêu cầu thiết kế ” số TCVN 4054: 1998
Tiêu chuẩn “ Đường ô tô cao tốc-Tiêu chuẩn thiết kế” số TCVN 5729: 1997
Tiêu chuẩn “Qui trình thiết kế áo đường mềm” số 22 TCVN 211: 1993
Tiêu chuẩn “Qui trình thiết kế áo đường cứng” số 22 TCVN 223: 1995
Tiêu chuẩn “Điều lệ báo hiệu đường bộ” số 22 TCN 237: 1997
Tiêu chuẩn thiết kế “Đường ôtô và đường thành phố” AASHTO
Tiêu chuẩn ngành số 22TCN274: 2001 of MoTPWs
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ROLE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION REGARDING ROAD SAFETY
Tran Thanh Can, M.A.
Public Works & Transportation Service
Ho Chi Minh City
To enhance road safety, minimize road accidents and traffic congestions, it is strongly
recommended that many safety action plans should be carried out at the same time. The
development of public transportation and reduction of circulation of individual means are
among the priority actions. Such development should match with the traffic conditions and
ensure safety
I/- Basic requirements of public transportation:
The public transportation system should meet the need of circulation at peak hours and the
following requirements:
1. Capacity
The network of public transport should have a capacity that meets the passengers’ needs
and fills in the disparity of transportation demand during and after peak hours.
During peak hours, it should have enough capacity to transport passengers.
During off-peak hours, there should be enough parking spaces, as the number of means in
circulation is low.
2. Speed:
Public transport system should provide journeys at the maximum speed of 60 minutes from
'door-to-door'.
3. Safety and reliability:
The degree of safety and reliability lies in the low occurrence (probability) of accidents,
smooth transportation in all weather conditions, accurate journey duration.
4. Environment problem:
It should meet the aim to reduce waste gas, preserve the natural environment.
5. Popularity:
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Public transport should be a widespread, simple, easy to use, and long-lasting network, with
reasonable fares to attract a great number of users.
6. Economic efficiency:
Public transport network should have large seating capacity, occupy little space, be
economical, of low costs and time-saving for passengers.
II/- Choosing the mode of public transport:
1. Choosing the means of transportation:
Research over the world proves that cities over 1 million inhabitants should introduce large
seating capacity modes of transport, and be assisted by other means such as buses, taxis,
cars. .
The choice of means of transport for a city should be based on the size of the city
population, the flow of passengers at peak hours and the capability of meeting basic
transport needs of each means.
The organization of the urban traffic network -based on the population size- can help
determine the trend of each means of transport in the future, as well as plan, organize the
current traffic system.
Below is the chart showing such relation:
Population size
(1000 persons)
15-20
20-60
60-100
100-300
300-500
500-1000
Maximum flow
(person/time/direction)
Above 1000
Above 12.000
Under 1000
1000-2000
2000-6000
6000-8000
8000-12000
Means of transportation needed
Individual means
Bus + car
Bus mainly + car
Bus mainly +taxi + car
Bus + metro + taxi + car
Bus + train + metro + taxi + car
Means of large seating capacity
And the above-mentioned means
2. Means of public transportation by land:
Roads of 12m in width are convenient for transportation by coaches (50-80 seats)
Roads of 7m-12m in width are only convenient for transportation by mini-buses
(15-30 seats)
3. Railway transportation:
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In the first step, diesel locomotives and coaches are used to transport urban and
suburban passengers. Once the railway system is electrified, automatic electric trams with
connected modules -each module with an engine and a passenger coach- will be used.
As for metros, there will also be module-connected electric automatic trams; the electricity
supply is subject to each specific context, it can be generated from above or from a 3rd rail.
Modules -with an engine and a coach- allow altering the metro length and can be
constructed by domestic factories.
4. Riverbus transportation
In some countries, riverbuses are used as regular means of public transport or for ecological
tourism.
III/-
Scheme for public transportation:
1. Scheme for public transportation network:
The modes of public transport carrying large numbers of passengers as trams and metros
have steady lines, due to their infrastructure (rails); these are not as flexible as bus
connections. Therefore, so as to create a framework, they should be planned prior to the bus
connection system that helps gather or distribute passengers to / from tram or metro
stations.
As for existing centers, the means of public transport (metro, bus, taxi, electric trams, cars .
. .) are gathered in central areas; they form a square at the starting points of the main traffic
connections and connect them into a traffic complex.
In new urban areas, urban development should be connected with the development of the
public transport system. Train stations should be designed as the starting points of traffic
connections and the square should be large enough for stations and parking spaces for
buses, mini buses, taxis, electric trams, private cars . . . as well as for the development of a
complex of shopping malls, business and administrative centers, hotels, restaurants that
bring convenience to passengers.
2. Planning the infra structure for public transport:
There are 2 viewpoints on the planning of the infrastructure for public transportation:
Viewpoint 1: Basing on the estimated need, then on the estimated capital funding, screen
and plan a system compatible with the funding capability.
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Viewpoint 2: Basing on the population size and estimated circulation need, the city first
plans the infrastructure of public traffic, then announces the move, plans the temporary land
use in the meantime, and looks for capital to carry out the plan.
3. Planning the organization of public transport by bus:
3.1. Bus system capacity of meeting demands:
A two-way bus connection with buses of 50 seats and pick-up cycles of 5 minutes/ 1
time will transport a maximum of 19.000 to 20.000 passengers/ day (16-20 working
hours).
If the average length of the connection is about 15 kilometres, then there should be
24 buses in circulation at the average speed of 15 kms/ hour.
The network of urban buses cannot and do not supply transportation for great
numbers of passengers, so cannot be regarded as the main mode of public transport.
3.2. Some common requirements when exploiting the bus network:
The bus network should be developed on the basis of convenience, comfort and low
fares:
- The bus network should be compact enough to cover different areas and meet the
transport demand of different target groups.
- Bus stations/ stops should be allocated appropriately so that bus users of different
lines need not walk too far.
- Frequent and punctual pick-up.
- The daily operating time should be long enough to meet the need of transport of
different groups of bus users.
- Buses should meet the required standard, be of good quality and comfort.
- Low fares to promote the use of buses.
- Ticket selling and using should be convenient: monthly ticket, ready-tickets at
point-of- sale, with a priority for large target groups such as: pupils, students,
workers of industrial parks.
- Installation of automatic ticket-control devices and gradually the number of ticket
sellers on buses can be reduced, so individual responsibility and urban civilized
manners will be promoted.
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3.3 Bus network allocation:
A well-designed, highly-efficient bus network should include major
connections on the main roads as well as minor connections on roads of lower
technical conditions.
Bus connections should also be linked with other means of public transport
such as: Metro, urban and suburban railways, electric trams, riverbus lines, to
increase the productivity of the public transport system as a whole.
- There should be allotment of bus lanes to ensure the transport capacity and
convenience of bus network.
3.4. Means and technical stations:
Means of transport:
Buses of over 50 seats are needed as most of the buses circulate in the local network
which crosses spots with high density of circulation.
As for certain one-way lines of more than 30 kilometers mini buses of 15-30 seats
should be utilized.
Mini buses of 15-30 seats will be mainly used in minor lines on narrow roads where
there is no space for bus lanes
Technical bus depots:
Bus depots are key factors for the safety and stability of bus operation. Every daily
bus should return to the bus depot for technical check-up and maintenance, and for
compliance with administrative regulations as handing over the bus to the
supervisor.
3.5 Station of repairs and maintenance of the bus network:
Maintenance and repairs are one aspect of systematic management. The bus network
operates with great numbers of vehicles, with high stability and uniformity, therefore,
maintenance and repairs are regarded as one link of the operation process.
4. Planning the public transportation with large seating capacity:
Means of transport with large seating capacity such as super trams, underground
trams have steady lines.
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4.1 Urban and suburban railway lines:
Urban and suburban railway lines perform the task of carrying satellite-city
passengers (commuters). They are part of the national railway system. Its operating
zone is within a 30-50 kilometer radius. They are electrified and supported by many
stations and platforms at spots such as condominiums, supermarkets, markets,
industrial areas, schools, hospitals etc...
4.2 Metro lines:
They perform the task of urban transportation, carrying passengers within the city
boundaries, taking passengers to/from railway stations for them to go on with their
journeys / commute.
4.3
Buses, trams, monorails, two-wheelers:
Buses, trams, monorails, two-wheelers are urban means of transport that mainly take
passengers from their homes to stations and from stations to destination, and vice
versa. This network consists of vehicles of small and average seating capacity -to
support the network of large capacity vehicles -, and plays an important part as they
help form the transport circle from door-to-door, bringing convenience to
passengers.
Electric tram is the cheap means of public transport. This system can be built
in a short time, is easy to manage and exploit, and does not pollute the environment.
Monorail: There are two types, suspended from the rail or running on the rail;
the latter is more popular. Monorail is used mainly in exhibition places, parks for
passengers to go sight-seeing. The bad points of monorail are its low seating
capacity and less flexibility as compared to railway trains.
5. Bus Rapid Transport (BRT)
-
1/ Requirements:
BRT should meet the following requirements:
Run on specific lanes.
Have high floors so as to have more seating space than low –floor busses.
Bus stops should have levels of the same height to facilitate movement on and off buses
of the passengers.
Ticket fares should be paid in advance to ensure rapid movement on and off the buses.
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-
2/ Good points:
Good points of BRT are:
BRT use specific lanes so are not delayed by other means of transport.
Function at high speed, reliability and accuracy.
Very cost-effective
Large seating capacity
Lower costs of infrastructure, as compared to railway trains of similar seating capacity.
Pre-paid tickets facilitate rapid movement on/off the bus.
Buses with high floors allow maximum seating room
Large bus doors, bus platforms of the same level as bus decks facilitate rapid
movement on / off the buses
Convenient for people with disabilities.
Modern IT applications such as supplying information, time tables . . .
-
BRT is very flexible. It can operate at places where there are no specific lanes yet. BRT
can also operate on pedestrian roads. Besides, it does not pollute the environment much
so is convenient for transportation inside the cities.
-
The seating capacity can also be increased when the distances between bus stops are
farther, allowing 2 or 3 buses to pick up passengers at a time. GPS new technology can
provide accurate information on bus operation and solutions to technical and managerial
matters.
The result is that costs for BRT users / km are usually lower than costs for railway users.
6. Metro network:
There are three types: Metro on a high level, Metro on the ground, and underground metro.
Metro on-a-level usually runs on viaducts, at heights of safety decided by the city,
due to geographical conditions. The system is set up on wide roads in the suburbs. When
the city develops to the suburbs, it can be removed and made underground.
On-the-ground metro system is usually arranged on
large roads of over 120m in width, mostly at terminals of underground metro stations, in the
suburbs. When the city expands to the suburbs, it can be removed and made underground.
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Underground metro has become the main and popular mode of public transport in
crowded cities over the world.
Conclusion:
The current public transport system of Ho Chi Minh City has not met the city’s
demand of transportation yet... Here, the bus system affords about 3,2% of the need of
transportation, the 96,8% remaining are supported by individual means and other means
of transport, mainly two wheelers. With a population of over 8 million people (including
transient visitors), the city does not have a system of public transportation with great
seating capacity yet. It is supposed that in many countries, cities of under 1 million persons
do have public transport system.
According to the orientation scheme of urban transportation development in HCM city up
to 2020, public transportation with high seating capacity and other forms of public transport
will be able to satisfy 60% of the city’s need of transportation. To reach that goal, strategies
should be devised right now, with specific, detailed, scientific planning applying modern
traffic technology, so as to reduce wasteful alterations and changes in the future.
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THE ROLE OF ROAD TRAFFIC INSPECTION
IN ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY WORKS
Do Diep Gia Hop-M.S
Department of Communication
and Public Works HCM City
1. A general view of the road traffic safety inspection
At present in Vietnam, the inspection of road traffic safety is the work of the Road
Management section, Ministry of Communication and Transportation and the provincial
and city’s Department of Communication and Public Works.
Their specific works are to investigate, to control and to discover the violated activities in
the designation, exploitation, development and use phases of a traffic construction which
influenced on another road, waterways, railway constructions, such as:
- The violations of the protected corridor of the traffic constructions.
- The actions which damage the traffic construction.
- The using of oversize and overload means of traffic which negatively impact the
traffic constructions life expectancy.
- The environmental polluted actions.
- The assembling and placing of traffic sign boards which are not correct as being
regulated.
- The violation in digging and restoring road surface.
However, these specific works are not paid enough special attention to, therefore when
the constructions are brought into exploitation and development, many insufficiencies to
meet the goal of construction and many shortcomings are disclosed which negatively
influence the traffic participants’ safety, cause traffic accidents and traffic jams.
At present, the traffic infrastructure system management such as the management of
bridges, roads, illumination, green tree areas, drainage etc… is assigned to the municipal
traffic managing zone authorities which are directly under the affiliation of the municipal
Department of Communication and Public Works. The municipal traffic managing zone
authorities subcontract to the road and bridge traffic work companies to maintain, restore,
repair and patrol to discover the unexpected break-downs, then suggest to the municipal
traffic managing zone to work out a repair plan. However, because the patrol work is not
tightly managed, therefore the unexpected breakdowns couldn’t be disclosed. This is the
cause leading to the loss of traffic safety.
On November 5th 2004 the government promulgated the Decree 186/2004/-CP to
stipulate about the management and the protection of road traffic infrastructure. In article
10, it stipulated that these newly built road construction, upgraded road construction,
improved road construction and the road construction which was brought into
exploitation and development have to undergo safety traffic examination and evaluation.
On February 2, 2005, the Ministry of Communication and Transportation promulgated
the decision 13/2005/QD-BGTVT to stipulate about the discovery of dangerous locations
on the exploiting roads where traffic accidents happen frequently and the findings of
solution to overcome the dangers of these dangerous locations. In this decision, the
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definition of a black spot is established and the procedure to set up a black spot file, the
assignment of specific tasks to functional branches to collect statistic data of the black
spot and to solve the dangers of these locations also be addressed.
With new projects, the problem is that the design units have not considered yet that safety
traffic is an important goal which need to be addressed, even when these units are
assigned to design a repair plan, upgrading, enlarging or a newly build construction work.
This shortcoming cause economic and social losses, waste of time and money to solve.
In HCM City, the traffic safety committee has established a traffic safety investigation
team. This team included representatives of units of the road traffic police office, the
municipal traffic managing zone authorities, the traffic managing office; the bridge and
road traffic work managing companies. The task of the investigation team is to cooperate
with district committees of traffic safety to affirm the locations and the causes of traffic
accident, to make the statistics and to list the name of the black spots. From this basis, the
municipal traffic safety zone authorities will suggest the measures to assure traffic safety.
At present, there are still some limits in the documentation of the black spot files. These
are the reasons :
- The file documentation is mainly hand-written, or information are collected by
simple software such as word, excel and photographs taken at the scene or place
of the accident.
- The data about traffic accidents provided by the traffic police office and the
district traffic police team don’t match each other.
- The data about the accidents are not enough, not updated and are not brought
together as a whole.
- There isn’t the system of managing information by GIS map yet; therefore, it is
impossible to locate precisely the black spots.
- The system of information and warning has not existed yet.
- The work of finding and implementing the solutions to overcome the dangers
caused by the black spots is time consuming and effort spending because:
- If the financial costs of the solutions for the black spots are low, such as: road
painting, setting the traffic sign board, mending the pot holes; then the capital for
the preservation and maintenance of the road can be used immediately.
- If the financial costs of the solutions for the black spots are relatively high or high
such as: assembling and setting the traffic signal light systems and, the divided
strips, improving the intersections; roads enlarging; then it is necessary to draft
the project, to register the plan, to design, to wait for the approval of the project,
to implement the appoint bidding or open bidding for the contract; all these
activities will cost a lot of time.
2. The contents of road traffic safety inspection
2.1 Definition of road traffic safety inspection
Road traffic safety inspection is a frequent and systematized work which aims at the
highest level of road use and the minimizing of traffic accidents.
2.2 The tasks of road traffic safety inspection are:
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To discover the road damages, the shortcomings and the causes of the loss of traffic
safety
To collect the concrete data and to suggest the solutions to improve the situation of traffic
safety
2.3 The aims of road traffic safety inspection are:
- To find out and to warn of the potential dangers for the road user.
- To warn and to improve the traffic works from the design phase to the construction
phase and bring into use phase to assure traffic safety.
2.4 The benefits which road traffic safety bring are:
- The minimizing of traffic accidents and traffic jams and environmental pollution.
- The minimizing of the repair and restore costs of the traffic infrastructure system.
- The in-time announcement to the functional agencies to adjust the unreasonable policies
in the using of traffic infrastructure.
2.5 The road traffic safety inspection doesn’t take upon itself the responsibility to:
- Re-design roads
- Investigate and comment on technical problems.
- Investigate the designed criteria.
2.6 Persons undertake road safety traffic inspection:
- Must not be the designer
- Are trained about road traffic safety.
- Have experiences about traffic technique, road design and traffic safety technique.
- Work in a team of 2 persons at least.
2.7 The responsibilities of the traffic safety road staff are to:
- Draft the regulations on the management of traffic safety system
- Manage the traffic safety system
- Take responsibility on the planning, designing, constructing, exploiting and the
regulations of the road traffic system in the management area of the staff.
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2.8 The procedure of road traffic safety management:
DEVELOPMENT
PHASE
MAIN
AGENCIES
RELATED
Basic design
Office for the management
of road traffic
Detail design
Office for the management
of road traffic
Construction phase
Office for the
management
Exploitation
Phase
Office for the management
of road traffic
project
REQUESTS OF THE
SYSTEM OF TRAFFIC
SAFETY
MANAGEMENT
Submit the basic design of
traffic safety to be
approved
Submit the detail design of
traffic safety to be
approved
Submit the plan to
organize
traffic
provisionally
to
be
approved
Submit the traffic safety
plan of the existing road to
be approved.
2.9 The steps to implement road traffic safety inspection
2.9.1 The examination of the basis design phase:
Whenever there has been a reconstruction or upgrading or newly build of basis traffic
infrastructure project, besides the technical criteria stipulated in “Design criteria for
bridges, roads”, it is crucial to pay attention to the traffic safety issue. It is compulsory to
recognize the traffic safety for road users as a criterion of prime importance. These are
the sub steps of 2.9.1.:
2.9.9.1 The affirmation that the dimension of the road and the horizontal cross-cutting
road surface has to satisfy the below mentioned parameters:
- Type and class of the road
- Characteristics and traffic flow calculated on all the traffic means and the flow of
street walkers.
- The arrangement of different road lanes for different traffic means, different speed.
- The arrangement of the public works system on the road.
- The topography of the construction area
- The architectural works on the 2 sides of the road
- The public illumination and the traffic control.
- The width of the sidewalk, the pavement.
2.9.1.2 The organizing work to distribute traffic flows has to be based on these
questions
- Is there divided strip between two vehicle streams moving along opposite direction?
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- Is there separation strip between the primitive vehicle stream and mechanized vehicle
stream?
- Is there system of traffic signal boards, road paintings and the places for street
walkers?
- Is there specific reserve road for specialized utility vehicles?
- Is there specific time to limit traffic means?
- The road at the intersection with another road of the same level or different level
- Traffic is controlled by traffic sign lights or automatic rotary road intersections?
2.9.1.3 The arrangement of traffic objects to move following an adjusted schedule in
compliance with their personal aims to increase the effect of road using:
- Organizing slanted time for working shifts or uneven time of studying for students.
- Arranging the related industries, related professions to have close working places,
therefore the moving co-efficient can be reduced.
2.9.1.4 Measures to limit individual means of traffic, to increase the number of times
which passengers use the means of public traffic:
- Limit individual vehicles running on a number of road axles;
- Limit individual vehicles running in a number of hours;
- Limit individual vehicles running on even days or odd days;
- Build the individual vehicle limit areas;
- Build the walking areas;
- Collect fees of the individual vehicles which travel to the city center;
- Price support for means of public traffic;
- Construct roads which specially reserve for means of public traffic;
- Periodical investigate (or inspect) the 2-wheel motorbikes, grant time quota for the
using of individual means of vehicles;
- Levy individual-vehicle use tax annually.
2.9.1.5 Managing the use of side walk, road surface:
- Strictly punish by a fine on every occupation of the sidewalk, road surface.
- Build convenient sidewalks for streetwalkers which are suitable for people from
different walk of life.
2.9.1.6 Propagating and disseminating the traffic law, traffic safety:
- Compile the teaching curriculum in traffic safety and introduce this curriculum into the
teaching program of schools to be taught officially
- Propagate, educate and disseminate about traffic safety on the mass media.
- Organize the competition, contest, fair, forum about traffic safety.
2.9.1.7 Strengthening the legal punishment on the traffic safety violation
- Equip for the traffic enforcement force with appropriate facilities.
- Supplement the functions, tasks, authority of the traffic safety enforcement force
in compliance with the real traffic situation.
2.9.1.8 Preserving, maintaining the traffic infrastructure system to achieve the best
using quality of the system.
- Investigate, supervise and discover the broken parts, damages, shortcomings of the
traffic infrastructure system.
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- Invest the modern and new equipments to increase the use effectiveness of the traffic
infrastructure system.
2.9.2 The investigation of the detail design phase
- In this phase, carry on the investigation about technical parameters of geometry,
geodesy vertical section and geodesy horizontal section of the road surface, rough
level, points of road cross, road cutting and intersection, the curve places where the
visibility range is hidden, the positions where street walkers walk across the road.
- Investigate the traffic signal light systems, the illumination systems, traffic signal
boards, road painting systems, divided strips, green tree areas, places for vehicles to
enter in or exit out of the road, bus stopping point, bus waiting stations, the positions
where vehicles and men enter in or exit out frequently. If there are possibilities which
cause conflicts or the dangers which cause traffic accidents, then it is needed to adjust
the design in accordance with the situation quickly.
- In this phase, it is needed to introduce the traffic accident data, traffic jam data of the
road and the position of black spots, unreasonable detail design geometrically, or
traffic organizing with other existing roads need to be upgraded and enlarged. In this
phase, it is import ant to pay attention to assure traffic safety for street walkers and up
or down path of the pavement for the handicapped.
2.9.3 The investigation in the phase of the construction implementation:
- In the process of construction implementation, it is necessary to assure traffic safety, to
regulate traffic and environmental hygiene.
- When the construction implementation work is proceeding, if mistakes are discovered
in the design, it is needed to inform immediately to the investor, the management
agencies and the consultant unit to correct and adjust in time. Avoid the situation that a
newly completed construction has to be destroyed to reconstruct another one because it
causes waste of time and money, negatively influences traffic and create bad public
opinion.
- Within the area of the construction site, these must be barred fence, information board
for the traffic guidance, traffic regulated workers. In the night time, there must be
signal lights. All the equipments, machines and material have to be tidily arranged
which doesn’t occupy the circulation of the road and cause dangers to traffic means.
With the project on the road of large traffic flow there must be the plan for the
distribution of traffic stream, for the organization of reasonable traffic and warning
signal from a far distance.
2.9.4 The investigation in the phase of exploitation and use:
2.9.4.1 Role and requirements
In the phase of use and exploitation, the work of patrolling and supervising to discover
the mistakes, shortcomings and broken parts or damages of the construction to prevent
traffic accidents and limit the degrading level of traffic infrastructure is a very necessary
task.
- It is necessary to build an expert contingent to implement the patrolling and
supervising work (road patrol officer). This contingent receives salaries from the
national budget or from the subcontract companies hired to manage traffic
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-
infrastructure. The road patrol officer’s responsibility is stipulated in Article 19
“Define the responsibility and the punishment forms to organization, individuals
who violate the management, maintenance of the road traffic infrastructure
structure”. This article 19 was enacted in accompanying with the decision
38/2004/QD-BGTGVT, dated December 24, 2004 of the Ministry of
Communication and Transportation;
The investigation work in the phase of exploitation and use requires employees
who specialize in traffic. It is possible to organize them into groups or teams.
2.9.4.2. Sketched diagram of the procedure to implement traffic safety inspection in the
phase of road exploitation and use.
1. Affirm
which
project or
existing road
to investigate
2. Establish a
contingent of
investigators
in different
specialized
areas
Δ
Δ
8. Adjust
correct and
perfect the
project
according to
the
investigation
ideas
Δ
7. Prepare the
explanatory
report
Δ
3. Organize a prelim investigation
meeting to
examine the
project
information and
the drawing of the
plan
Δ
4. Examine
carefully the
provided
information in
many different
situations
6. Submit the
investigation
result to the
investor or the
designer
5. Analyze the
investigation
result and write
report
Δ
Δ
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2.9.4.3. Comparison between traffic safety control and traffic safety inspection.
TRAFFIC SAFETY CONTROL
TRAFFIC SAFETY INSPECTION
1. Implemented by 1-2 member groups 1. Implemented by 3-5 member groups of
proficient in road design and road design
different professions
examination
2. Members of the group are usually 2. Members of the groups work
involved in design work
independently and are not involved in
the project.
3. The field of control is not usually a part 3. The field of control is a necessary part
of traffic safety control
of traffic safety inspection
4. Traffic safety control usually focuses on 4. The Inspectors use printed forms and
designs in compliance with the
examine the road design documents to
stipulated regulations
discover traffic safety key issues.
5. Traffic safety control doesn’t focus on 5. Traffic safety inspection should be easy
human factors such as the driver’s error,
to understand and able to discover
the problem of visibility range.
elements which lead to traffic unsafety.
6. Traffic safety control usually focuses on 6. Traffic safety inspection has to examine
the road-users’ needs.
the road user factors, including
pedestrians, motorbike riders, car / truck
drivers…etc…
7. The dangerous locations are identified 7. Traffic safety inspection should pre see
through analysis of the causes of traffic
possible high-risk locations, thus take
accidents, on-the-spot observation and
preventive measures.
drivers’ behavior.
2.9.4.4. Conditions to achieve good results for traffic safety inspection and traffic safety
investigation:
To achieve good results for traffic safety inspection and investigation, it is necessary to
have these conditions:
The project owner, designer have to closely co-operate with the inspection,
investigation groups;
The investigation group has to comprise of the experts of traffic, traffic safety,
state land planning, ownership, construction, maintenance, social impact of the
project, and enforcement.
It is compulsory to inspect and to investigate at the beginning from the step of
project drafting, to the step of prelim designing.
Ready to research and apply new ideas
3. The discovery work, examination work and the solution to solve the dangers of
black spots.
On February 02, 2005 the ministry of communication and transportation has promulgated
the decision 13/2005/QD-BGTVT namely “Regulation on the affirmation of dangerous
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location which traffic accidents frequently happen on the exploiting roads and how to
deal with these dangerous locations”.
In this decision, the definition and the affirmative perception related to the black spots are
given as below:
3.1. Black spots:
Are dangerous locations where traffic accidents usually happen? The term “point” here
can be understood as a location or a road section or the area the intersection or junction.
3.2. The criteria to define black spots:
It is compulsory to base on the situation of traffic accident number its seriousness and the
damages happened annually in a location to define the criteria of
a. Black spot: this is a place with :
ƒ 02 serious traffic accidents (traffic accident with dead victim).
ƒ 03 accidents and above (in which, 1 accident is serious), or
ƒ 04 traffic accidents and above, but there are only injured people
3.3. The black spot file includes of:
The traffic accident files are kept at the road management office.
The traffic accident statistics board with the recorded routes, number of
accidents, damages, the evaluation of the accidents causes in accordance with
pre-lim suggestion of the overcome solutions.
The traffic accident file provided by traffic police;
The sketched diagram and drawings of the black spot areas, the photograph of
the black spot and related materials.
3.4. The responsibility in dealing with the black spot
The road management unit has the responsibility to discover, make traffic accident
statistics, and document the black spots file as stipulated; from the collected data to
compare with the black spot criteria and synthesize into a master file to report to the in
charged agency.
The in charged agency bases on the repent of the road management a unit (which it is
directly dependent on) to conduct the first step of examination and evaluation, then
document the file with priority classification and the solutions to submit to the people’s
committee of the city to be approved and granted investment permission.
3.5. The procedure to solve the black spot
Step 1: Pre-lim affirm the black spot and priority classify
Step 2: implement the first inspecting visit to the existing scene.
Step 3: Collect more data and conduct the analysis.
Step 4: Research the existing scene for the second time to define the reasons of traffic
accidents.
Step 5: Choose the measures to overcome the dangers of the black spot.
Step 6: Define clearly the responsibilities of the black spot overcome agencies.
Step 7: Implement the solution to deal with the black spot.
Step 8: Watch and evaluating the results.
3.6. Prelim affirm the black spots and priority classify
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The road management unit has to update enough documents of traffic audient. The files
of traffic accidents are synthesized into statistics to be the basis to affirm the black spots.
Based on the number of traffic accident in one year, the serious level of the dead number,
the injured number, the value of damaged assets to pre–lim arrange the prioritized black
spot to deal with.
3.7. Implement the first inspecting visit to the existing scene
After the affirmation of the black spot, it is compulsory to conduct the inspecting visit to
complement the existing scene characteristics traffic junction, existing situation of the
corridor, the organization of traffic, and other characteristics (visibility range, curve
radius, adhesion level of the road … etc…). Then, sketch the diagram, take photograph of
the existing scene, assess the traffic flow, vehicle composition, traffic situation and street
– walker situation.
3.8. Collect more data and conduct the analysis
Based on the result of the inspecting visit and the files of traffic accidents collected to
conduct the drawing of floor space diagram of the traffic accidents with a drawing scale
of 1:200 This diagram demonstrate all the main characteristics of the existing scene:
Junctions, the organization of traffic, houses, green tree areas, and sketched diagram of
the accidents. Conduct analysis with each and every accident locations to pre – lim affirm
the reasons the accident.
3.9. Research the existing scene for a second time to define the reasons of the
accidents:
Based on the implemented file as define above, organize a second research on the
existing scene to affirm the reasons which cause the traffic accident at the existing scene:
the situation of road and bridge, the situation of traffic organize, the environment on the 2
side of the road, visibility range, night illumination, climate when traffic accidents
happened, or the situation of traffic control. It is compulsory to conduct inspecting visit
and research on the existing scene in many points of time and different climate.
3.10. Choose the measures to overcome the dangers of the black spot:
Based on the affirmed reasons, submit the measures to overcome the dangers of the black
spot in accordance with these principles:
- It is compulsory to diminish or eradicate totally the reasons which cause traffic
accidents.
- It is compulsory not to create other reasons which will cause traffic accidents.
- It is compulsory not to incur bad influences to traffic assurances and surrounding
environment.
3.11. The responsibilities of the black spot overcome agencies.
- In the case that the reasons and overcoming solutions are closely related to road and
bridge, the road management office has to overcome in time.
- In the case that the reasons and overcoming solutions are not related to road and bridge,
the responsible agencies have the responsibility to introduce and implement the solutions
as being authorized.
3.12. Implement the solutions to deal with black spots:
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The designed to deal with black spots have to be implemented by a design consultant unit
with experiences on road management. In the process of implementation the examination,
analysis and introduction of a feasible solution, the designed unit to deal with the black
spots have to maintain the participation of the investigation, examination group which
belongs to the road management agency as well as traffic police agency who in charge of
the road section in which the black spot is located.
In the process of working to deal with the black spot, the working unit has to follow
exactly the designed file to deal with the black spot as well as other regulations to assure
traffic safety in the process of working as well as the process of exploitation afterwards.
The implementation of the solutions to deal with black spots has to obey exactly the legal
regulations in investment management and construction.
3.13. Watch and evaluating the results
After conducting the above- mentioned steps the road management office has to continue
to organize the watching work and evaluate the result of traffic safety.
Conclusion:
To limit the increase, and gradually decrease the traffic accidents, the communication –
public works branch is now implementing many solutions; in which, the highest concern
is the inspection of traffic safety of road traffic construction.
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THE ROLE OF ROAD TRAFFIC MEANS
AND THE DRIVER IN SAFETY ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY
Ngo Thuc Tinh
Master of sciences
Huynh van Tuan
Engineer, the College of
Transportation and Public Work
HCM City
I. THE ROLE OF ROAD TRAFFIC MEANS IN ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY
1.1. The structure of means of road traffic:
It is a mixture of objectives who participate in traffic in HCM City, such as:
¾ Primitive vehicles :
- Bicycles
- Cyclos
- Tricycle
¾ Motor vehicles :
- Motorbike, motor-bicycle
- Motorized tricycle, motorized transport tricycle, three-wheeled or
motorcycle cab.
- Automobile or motor car
- Bus, coach and Lorry or truck.
Among the motor vehicles, the rate of motorbike and motor-bicycle assumes 90% of the
total volume, and in fact in circulation, the rate might increase to 95%. To compare
between the total number of buses and motorbikes, motor bicycle, the rate is very
surprising – it is within 1/1500 to 1/1000. This is really a very low rate to compare with
other cities in the world, especially in HCM City where there is totally no intra city
railroad.
1.2. The planning of road traffic means:
From 1990 to 2001, the number of motor bicycle and motorbike of HCM City increased 5
folds, the amount of automobile rose 2 folds, while the increased number of buses is not
so noticeable. Since 2001, the law of road traffic was enforced, in the article 5 chapter 2 it
“defines that the state grants policy priority to the development of public transportation
means, limits the individual traffic means in big cities”. However, in chapter 4 which
defines “the road traffic means”, it doesn’t address the planning issue of means
participating in road traffic.
In 2002, the authority of HCMC had promulgated the solution to limit the registration of
personal motor – vehicle, motorbike which defines by regulation that each person can
only register 2 vehicle. In 2006, the above – mentioned regulation was abolished.
However, in the enactment time of the regulation, the new registered vehicle still
increased and the amount of bus passengers only reached 300 million fax /year, which
accounts for only 5% to 6% of the transportation need of the population
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1.3. The characteristics of road transportation means
1.3.1. Bicycle:
Bicycle is an individual mean of road transportation which is environmental friendly but
the transport distance is limited.
- Bicycle is environmental friendly because it doesn’t use fuel. Many nations tend
to encourage this means of transportation in short distance
- Because this mean of traffic only uses man power therefore the distance of traffic
is limited only within the distance from 10 km to 15 km. Hence, this mean of traffic is
mainly used for students to go to school and a small population without conditions to buy
motor – vehicle. Just recently, a number of electric bicycles have appeared on the streets
to support the drivers.
1.3.2. Cyclos and tricycle:
Cyclos, tricycle are used to transport the cumbersome commodities. These means of
traffic have a limited working distance, and might obstruct traffic which result in dangers
for man and other means of traffic.
1.3.3. Motorbike 2 wheel motor – vehicle
Motorbike, 2 wheel motor vehicle are individual means of transportation with high
mobility but they are not safe and create environmental pollution.
They are small and compact in size, easy to control, with high mobility in any road
situation, different traffic conditions. 2 wheel motor vehicle is convenient mean of traffic
from door to door, from the driver’s door to the place of business.
- They are designed to operate at a rather high speed. They can’t be stable in a static
situation, therefore when being bumped or in percussion the vehicle loses its balance and
the driver will be injured.
- All motorbikes and 2 wheel motor-vehicles use gasoline as fuel, therefore their
exhaust gas is harmful to people and environment such as: monoxide carbon, dioxide
carbon (CO2), carbon soot and other harmful gases and lead contained compound.
1.3.4. Scooters, motorized tricycle and all kind of improved handcart.
Scooters, motorized tricycle and all kind of improved handcart are means to transport
commodities and passengers, mainly in rural areas within a limited distance of operation.
They are unsafe, noisy and create environmental pollution
1.3.5. 4 – 6 seat automobile, sedan, taxi cab:
Automobile, sedan, taxi are transport means that are useful and convenient for men and
commodities, therefore many countries have chosen those means as their main means of
transportation.
Their main disadvantages are that they occupy large road surface area when they are
moving and when they are parking.
1.3.6. Truck
At present, truck is the main mean of transportation inner city and inter- provinces
1.3.7. Coach and minivan
Coach and minivan are inner city and inter provinces to transport passengers from 9 seats
and above included the driver.
1.3.8. Bus
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Bus is automobile with 17 seats and above which has a floor area for passengers exactly
following the criteria as stipulated in the regulation, it is the main public mean of
passenger transportation inner city and inter province (see the article “the role of public
transportation in safety transportation”)
In the safety traffic safety work (service business), all kinds of traffic means have to
assure these principles:
1.
The vehicle conditions have to be exactly in accordance with its purpose of
using, and have to frequently exercise the maintenance as required by the
vehicle producer.
2.
The vehicle has to be equipped with full safe instruments such as safety belt,
safe seat for children. We can consider safety helmet as a safety instrument for 2
wheel motor vehicle.
3.
The number of passengers sitting on the vehicle couldn’t exceed the number
regulated by the producer
4.
The commodities on the vehicle have to be tightly bind and couldn’t exceed the
carrying capacity permitted by the producer and the law of road transportation
II. ROLE OF THE DRIVERS IN TRAFFIC SAFETY
The causes which incurred road traffic accident comprise three main factors:
Human factor (accounts for 95%), infrastructure factor (accounts for 28%) and vehicle
factor (accounts for 8%).
Human here implies the persons who participate in traffic such as: street walkers, persons
who operate the transport means: bicycle, motorbike, tricycle, automobile of all kinds.
Within the framework of this article, we can only address the role of the operator of the
means of road traffic, in general term, the operator here means the driver.
ƒ Defensive driving:
ƒ Defensive driving means the using of skills and traffic knowledge to :
ƒ Not to incur an accident
ƒ Not to get involve in the accident
ƒ Not to become a factor which partly incurs the accident
The main factors to assure defensive driving compose of: The driver, the facility and the
environment. Among those, the driver is the most importance.
2.1. Defensive driving looking from the angle of training, examining and granting
driver’s license
The skills and knowledge of traffic in the process of training, examining and granting
driver’s license is the basic factor of defensive driving.
In our country, since 1995, the ministry of communication and transportation has been
assigned with the task of training, examining and granting driver’s license. Since then,
the communication and transportation sector has incessantly improved, brought the
service of training, examining and granting driver’s license under orderly routine. To
implement the law of road transportation, the ministry has strengthened the supervising
of the driver training centers nationwide. The supervising activities have been
implemented on those aspects:
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- Management files, records score books, text books, curriculum, teaching plans,
training plans, practice of training courses.
- Classrooms for learning of theory: professional transportation knowledge, traffic
and transportation law, automobile maintenance and repair.
- Automobile to practice driving, the number type, years of using.
- Practice driving field: with assuming conditions for the trainer’s practice.
Over 10 years, the driver training foundations in HCM City (or center) have trained more
than 300,000 automobile driver students and 1,500,000 motorbike driver students. At the
beginning of 2006, 9 examining centers for automobile drivers started their operation,
among which 3 centers belong to HCM City.
2.2. Defensive driving looking from biological and psychological angle:
There are two important theories about the errors caused by human factor and
psychology:
- The reserve energy model
- The mistakes in the process of taking shape and implementing a decision
2.2.1. The reserve energy model:
This model perceives that each person has a certain level of mental energy which is
called reserve energy. When this mental energy of the person who participates in road
transportation is used excessively, this person can causes mistakes.
The mental energy is fully used until it is finished in these cases:
- Implement continuously many movements when operating the vehicle (driving,
gear changing, braking etc…)
- Work continuously in the process: perceiving > judging > deciding
When the amount of work is too numerous : in general, in his life, a person has to share
his mental energy such as exchange social relations and many other works … etc …
when participating in traffic, especially in tense situation, the driver has to mobilize all
his mental energy to control the vehicle. The problem might arise when his mental energy
is decreased or when the requirements to deal with the situation become too large.
2.2.2. The mistakes in the process of taking shape and implementing a decision
There are 3 causes which will lead to the action that incurs road traffic accident:
1. The vehicle operator run into a slanted direction but he doesn’t perceive: at
slippery points, pot holes... etc …
2. The vehicle operator intentionally follows the road traffic law but fail in his
true action.
3. The vehicle operator violates intentionally the traffic law.
Tiredness increases the mistakes (1) and (2). Alcohol increases all the 3 mistakes and
decreases the mental energy.
2.2.3 The factors which badly influence the driver’s psychophysiology:
2.2.3.1. Tiredness:
Tiredness is the state in which the mental and physical activities demonstrate the decline
and decrease in working abilities. Tiredness is usually caused by excessive work of the
body and nervous stress, many hours of continuous driving without rest or at the lowest
point of time of the biological cycle (appears once in 24 hours cycle). Tiredness is also
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caused by work without moderation, uncomfortable seat when driving, high temperature,
noisy environment or lacking of fresh air. One important reason is tiredness causes by
lack of sleep. Research shows that mistakes cause by nodding when driving is directly in
ratio with the number of driving hours. By the same time, research on Alpha brain wave
shows that the state of losing concentration when driving increases after 3-4 hours of
continuous driving.
Another research on the impact of the body biological clock shows that at 5 AM, the ratio
of nodding drivers increases 5-10 times to compare with other time of the day. This is
called “the dawn phenomenon”
The effects of tiredness are:
- A decrease of quick and sensitive reactions
- A decrease of warning level
- A time increase in the process perceives – judge – decide.
- A decrease in awakening (causes by change in body temperature, brain wave,
heart activities and nervous system.
There are three types of tiredness:
ƒ Normal tiredness
ƒ Tiredness caused by the use of medicine, cigarette, alcohol and stimulative
substances.
ƒ Tiredness caused by sickness or illness.
These are the signs of tiredness;
- Muscle weariness
- Sleepiness
- The hardening of bone joints
- The feeling of being oedematous in feet and hands
- Emptiness in brain and mind
- Facing with difficulties in decision – making.
* In summary:
- We can not sleep previously to compensate our sleeplessness
- The sleepless time will be accumulated
1 sleepless hour each day in a week =
1 sleepless night at weekend.
Therefore, article 60, the road traffic law stipulated that the working time of automobile
drivers can not exceed 10 hours each day and forbid the driver to drive more than 4 hours
continuously.
2.2.3.2. Alcohol and other stimulative substances:
a). Alcohol
The road traffic law of Vietnam stipulated that: strictly forbid the driver to use narcotics,
the driver who is operating the vehicle on the road but the concentration level of alcohol
in blood exceeds 80 milligrams/100 milliliter of blood or 40 milligrams/1 liter of
breathing air or using other stimulative substances which the state law forbids to use.
The influence of alcohol inside the body:
- Decrease the ability to implement many activities simultaneously
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- Decrease the concentration in driving
- Limit the reaction time
- Confuse of eye-sight easily and influence negatively the hearing ability.
- It is easy to feel sleepy while on the wheel.
Research shows that a driver which has been driving for 18 hours continuously will be in
a mental and physical state equal to a driver with a concentration level of alcohol of
50mg in blood. Similarly, 24 hours of continuous driving will equal to 100mg in blood.
Any drinks contain 10 milligram of alcohol is called a drink standard.
The below-mentioned drinks contain 10 grams of alcohol which equal to a drink
standard.
THE DISCHARGE PROCESS OF ALCOHOL OUT OF THE BODY
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To discharge alcohol out of the body for each drink standard, it takes 1 hour or more
depends on each body constitution.
b). Stimulative substances:
- The using of stimulative substances will affect the central nervous system.
- Stimulative substances will cause the feeling of excitement or the feeling of
suppression to the user.
- The feeling of excitement will increase the vigilance in the user, with a desire to
radiate energy. The feeling of suppression, on the other hand slows down the whole body
action.
- The stimulative substances change the human perception and create illusion
- The stimulative substances frequently seen which causes the feeling of excitement
are : Amphetamine, Ecstasy, Cocaine, Caffeine and Nicotine.
- The stimulative substances which cause the feeling of suppression are: alcohol,
cannabis, heroin, opium and tranquilizers.
Safe driving is to say no to any kind of stimulative substances.
c). Speed :
In analyzing the especially serious road traffic accident in Vietnam in 2006, it is clear to
see that the speed violation reason which causes the accidents account for 37.8% total
accidents.
The speed of a mean of traffic is controlled by 2 factors, one is the state law of road
traffic, the second is driver’s decision making. In the issue of traffic safety, the main
factor is the driver’s decision making.
The speed of means of traffic is the factor which mostly relates to all the links of the
accident happening chain in all the three accidents causing factor: mean of traffic, human
and the environment. Speed especially relates to the parameters of the curve, stopping
distance of the vehicle and the driver’s eye-sight range.
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The curve
When a vehicle enters a curve, then the speed is in direct ratio with the centrifugal force.
Centrifugal force is an inertia force which appears on any static object in a revolving
system of co-ordination to compare with an inertia system of
co-ordination. It can
also be understood that the centrifugal force is the reaction force of the centripetal force
which impacts the moving object following a curve ( the component force which is
perpendicular with the velocity and changes the direction of velocity), to keep the object
in a balance situation in the revolving system of Co-ordination
The higher velocity means the bigger centrifugal force. The speed of the vehicle which is
appropriate with the curve is recorded in this board:
Centrifugal force
Risk
speed
Suitable speed
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STOPPING DISTANCE
The distance since the obstacle object was seen until the vehicle stopped is called the
stopping distance:
The stopping distance varies which depends on the velocity and whether the road surface
is dry or wet can be recorded as below:
With motorcycle
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Velocity km/hour
56
72
88
104
Stopping distance/m2
( Dry road )
68
96
132
175
-
The influence of time of reflection – (Chart p. 169)
-
The influence of road surface
-
Safe distance
Stopping distance/m2
( Wet road )
80
117
160
215
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28 m - 50 km/h
50 m - 90 km/h
62 m - 110 km/h
73 m - 130 km/h
Visibility range:
The ratio between the speed of the vehicle and the visibility range of the driver is an
inverse ratio, therefore when the speed is higher, then the visibility range is narrower.
Simulation at cross road
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- Shock and bump:
The speed impacts the bumped objects following the principle of physics
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d). Surrounding environment.
The environment (includes roads, climate, light and traffic) is one of the factors which
influences the driver’s Psychophysiology
The roads:
These types of roads such as: curve road, mountain-pass road, sloping, bumpy or uneven
road, pot hole road, slippery road and road having obstacles are the factors which effect
the driver’s psychology. The role of the driver is to comply strictly with the road traffic
law and to be careful when he is not familiar with the road.
Climate and brightness
Bad climate as rainy, stormy, flooded or foggy climate will create a water layer on the
road surface which results in the decrease of road adhesion level, the driver can lose the
wheel easier, and especially the stopping distance will be longer. Similarly, if the
brightness is too intense or two weak, it might limit the eye – sight range of the driver.
The role of the driver is to slow down speed, turn on the luminous light, or avoid looking
at the glare of the headlight of the opposite vehicle, and stopping his vehicle at the
pavement if needed.
Traffic:
The issues relate to traffic such as: cross road, vehicle density, the diverge of the traffic
means and street-walkers, cattle –…….etc…… are important factor which influence the
role of the drivers in the service for safety traffic.
e). Safety belt and Safety helmet
Safety belt
Safety bell is an instrument which is enforced to use for the driver and the passenger
sitting on automobile to protect and to lessen the bumping force when the driver has to
brake urgently or bumping suddenly happened.
The bumping force should be understood as below:
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SAFETY HELMET
Purpose:
Wearing safety helmet is to protect the head part of the drivers, the persons sitting on
motorcycle, or 2 wheel motorbike when they participating in traffic. Though, there many
uncomfortable aspects when wearing a helmet such as: hot, heavy, head itch, and limit the
surround vision. But these limits can be considered as unavoidable to protect the driver’s
life, and the person sitting on motorbike and 2 wheel motorcycle life. (Picture paged 175,
176, 177)
The Standards:
All over the world, many countries have enacted the quality standards of safety helmet.
These are the standards which are recognized worldwide:
ƒ AS 1698 ( Australia )
ƒ CSA CAN 3-D230-M85 ( Canada )
ƒ JIS T8133 ( Japan )
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ƒ NZ 5430 ( New Zealand )
ƒ ECE 22.05 ( Europe ) [2] [3]
ƒ BS 6658: 1985 (UK)
ƒ DOT FM VSS 218 ( USA ) [4]
Most of safety helmet quality standards are effectively applied at a velocity 4-7m/second
(16.2 – 29 km/ h) which is equal to the motorbike velocity of approximately 20m/s (80
km/h). These standards derived from a relative perception that the perpendicular velocity
which impact on the safety helmet is not coincide with the motorbike velocity and the
bumping force is not only depend on the driver head’s velocity but also on the material of
the bumped object as well as the bumped area.
In Vietnam, at present, the quality standard TCVN 5766:2001 of safety helmet for person
moving on motorcycle or motorbike is used. Base on that standard, the safety helmet has
to sustain shocks and bumps and is shock absorbing and the reverberation acceleration
couldn’t exceed:
- Immediate acceleration: 300g ( 2942 m/s2 )
- Surplus acceleration after 3ms: 200g ( 1961 m/s2 )
- Surplus acceleration after ms: 150g ( 1470 m/s2 )
Classify:
There are 3 main types of safety helmet: helmet with Jaw cover, helmet covers all the
head, ear and helmet covers the half part of the head. All 3 types have helmet strap
attached to the chin. This is the part to keep the helmet firmly on the head to protect the
head from injury.
- THE HEAD AND JAW COVERED SAFETY HELMET:
This type of safety helmet also has a hard outer cover to protect the above part of the
head, the occipital bone area and the jaw of the wearer. It usually has a face cover plastic
glass and this glass can open or close. Most helmets of this type have ventilation system
to create a feeling of well ventilated and cool for the wearer.
The advantage of this helmet is a high safety level for the user. However, many persons
also dissatisfy because they cause heat, less open, a feeling of isolation and limit hearing
sense.
Research shows that Jaw covered safety helmet highly protect the head for the user
because in 35% of the total traffic accident, the victim were injured in the occipital and
Jaw area.
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- THE HEAD AND EAR COVERED SAFETY HELMET
This type of safety helmet has a hard outer cover to protect the upper part of the head and
the occipital area of the wearer.
This type of helmet has the same effect as the safety helmet with glass cover the face, but
it is less effective in protecting the chin, neck and face. Dust and wind can blow into the
eyes and face of the driver
- The half – head covered safety helmet
This helmet has a hard outer cover to protect the upper of the head. This kind of helmet
has the minimum protection effect of protecting only the head part of the user. But
different from the 2 above – mentioned helmets, the half head covered helmet tends to be
thrown out when accident happens.
STRUCTURE
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A safety helmet has to meet the stipulated structure:
Hard cover: With shock absorbing cushion inside the helmet body, a strap to keep fixed
the helmet or the head of the wearer, a dunnage to give the user the feeling of
convenience.
In Viet Nam, it is regulated that the driver and the person who sits on the motorbike,
motorcycle has to wear safety helmet on the road sections, road lines (which are chosen
by traffic safety agencies) and this regulation was enforced for quite a long time.
However, to protect the traffic participant’s lives, it is necessary to regulate the
enforcement of wearing safety helmet on the driver or anyone sitting on the motorbike,
motorcycle, when they participate in traffic on any roads and this regulation need to be
included into the traffic law.
CONCLUSION:
Good maintenance of traffic means and defensive driving are the contributions to the
cultural characteristic of traffic safety.
To implement these contributions with good performance, the driver should follow these
advices:
ƒ The driver should not use mobile phone, drink wine or beer and use
stimulative substance while driving.
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ƒ
ƒ
The driver should keep his calm be polite, be patience, respect other
drivers and street – walkers.
The driver usually tights his safety belt while driving the automobile and
wears safety helmet while driving motorbike or motorcycle.
The drivers usually adjust the speed according to the traffic situation.
And the driver should obey and implement the road traffic law absolutely.
ƒ
ƒ
References:
- Securite Routiere – Republique Francaise – Philippe Perret.
- Wikipedia Encyclopedia
- Defensive Driving BP
- Safety helmet for motorbike or motorcycle driver
- The 10 clauses which automobile driver should pay attention to. The national
committee of traffic safety.
HANDBOOK
THE SYSTEM OF TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBLE FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES
Ngô Thúc Tỉnh, M.A.
Handicap International
The system of accessible transportation for people with disabilities (PwD) consists of
improvements made to support the disabled when using the traffic. If a disabled person
can get easy access to the means of transportation, so can every traffic user.
This article aims to point out some concepts and basic technical factors so as to create
some foundations for application in transportation and public works to Vietnamese
students.
1/ Concepts, classification, consequences of disability:
1.1 Concepts:
Impairment is the structural, functional, surgical or physiological loss, deficiency or
abnormality
Disability is the limitation or loss of a certain function caused by impairment.
Handicap is the state of difficulty in social integration caused by disability.
People with disability refer to all the handicapped, impaired and disabled persons
1.2 Classification:
There are 7 handicap groups:
- Difficulty in moving
- Difficulty in hearing and speaking
- Difficulty in seeing
- Epilepsy
- Loss of sensation
- Difficulty in learning
- Strange behavior.
1.3 Process of handicap :
ƒ The process of handicap develops from illness or injury to, impairment, disability
and handicap and its consequences
So, the disabled themselves, the attitudes of society and the surrounding environment
often create a barrier to social integration for the impaired and turn them into handicap
people.
1.4 Consequences of handicap:
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According to WHO, in 2002 over the world, car collisions caused 1, 18 million fatalities
and 50 million injuries, among whom 5 million became disabled. It is estimated that, by
2020, the road traffic deaths and the disabled will increase by 60% and become the third
cause among the top ten ones of the global burden of disease.
* WHO
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of Vietnam, there
are about 7 million disabled persons in Vietnam, representing over 7% of the population;
12,73% of them live in the cities and 61,26% are in the 16-55 age groups. In HoChiMinh
City, 66.03% of disabled persons get allowances.
Besides the bad consequences to themselves and to their families, the consequences of
disability to the society can be seen as follows:
- The PwDs cannot or do not have the opportunities to participate in productive labor for
society, therefore do not earn income and become an economic burden to society.
- The society should spend part of its budget to support the PwDs.
- Due to the PwDs’ lack of social integration, a large labor force is needed to support the
PwDs.
Therefore, the formation of a system of transportation access for the PwDs does not only
have human, socio-cultural characteristics but also economic ones.
2/- System of transportation access and traffic safety for the PwDs
In developed countries, the infrastructure for transportation access is developed;
therefore, documents referring to transportation access for PwD mostly focus on technical
factors of individual and public means of transport.
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A system of traffic access to PwD is understood as a system enabling PwDs' access
from their home to another place. This includes:
The infrastructure of the place where they are living (houses, markets, schools,
hospitals, offices, etc…)
The structures of pavements, drives, alleys, small bridges etc… that lead to a system
of mobile traffic or to the major roads
Streets and non-mobile traffic system
Individual means of transport
Public transportation
Such system should be complete and there should be changes in the society's
behaviors and attitudes toward PwDs.
Within the limitations of this article, the infrastructure of the place where PwDs live will
not be mentioned, and subjects are restricted to people with difficulty in seeing, in
moving with lower limbs. The following points are focused on:
1. Individual means of transport of PwDs.
2. Access to pavements
3. Access to traffic lights.
4. Access to means of transport and public transportation.
2.1 Individual means of transport of PwDs
2.1.1 Wheelchairs:
Standard specifications:
- Weight: 12-15 kilos.
- Length: 1200mm
- Width: 700 mm
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2.1.2 Types of safe wheelchairs
2.1.3 Wheelchair with steering wheels
2.1.4 motorized three-wheelers:
In general, three-wheelers now in circulation in HCMC are designed 3x1, using one
active wheel as the main one; therefore, the stability and motion safety are low. Threewheelers converted from motorbikes need motion stability and should be designed 3x2,
with two back wheels as main ones; there needs a micro processor directing the two back
wheels as main ones, distributing moment to the wheels and ensuring their spinning at
different speeds
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The vehicles mentioned above are some types now popular in HCM city.
Individual means of transport of PwDs are varied as they are modified to suit different
types of disability.
2.2Structure of the pavement
2.2.1Basic principles:
- Pavements should be safe to walk on, free of obstacles, and large enough for
wheelchair motion.
- The surface is not slippery and without any abrupt change of level.
- Structures on the pavement such as phone booths, billboards, hanging items or
plants, trees, etc… should not cause any obstacle to PwDs.
- Sidewalks should be sufficiently- illuminated
2.2.2Structures:
Width of the pavements:
Ideal width: 2400mm
Acceptable width: 1500mm
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Free of barriers
The pavement surface should be flat, smooth and made of non-slippery materials.
Low branches of bordering trees should be cut off, drain covers should be of
small size. Not any obstacles on the pavement.
Grates covering open drains:
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Grate openings should not be wider than 13mm, so as not to catch wheelchair or
push-chairs wheels, walking canes and cause the disabled to fall down.
Raised curbs for orientation and for halt
There should be curbs for orientation or for halt to persons with difficulty in
seeing on the pavements, pedestrian paths and at entrances to public constructions
Curbs for orientation
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Curbs for halt
Design required:
- Non-slippery material
- Usually put on ways to constructions, slopes, traffic spots, dangerous places
etc…
- Suitable domestic materials may be utilized
- Width of the curb not smaller than 600mm
- Curb should be set at 300mm from the pavement border (or 1 bordering tile)
- Curb for orientation and for halt should be perpendicular to each other
Applications in some developed countries:
These curbs are not set on every pavement or pedestrian path as this may be
wasteful and expensive.
In France, the pavements are designed with a 20cm rough border so as to create
sensation to the difficulty-seeing-persons with walking canes.
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Sidewalk:
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Sidewalks should be relatively flat, with a slight slope to enable easy access to the
handicapped and wheelchair-users.
2.2.3Traffic lights
As for traffic lights operated by pedestrians, these should be equipped with sound
signals and buttons with Braille or raised letters to ensure easy access to the
people with difficulty in seeing.
2.2.4 Access to means of transport
In Vietnam, very few PwDs have private cars, so easy transportation access to
stops near bus stations, and places of transit from taxis, cars to coaches; trains
etc… should be designed.
Typical technical features of accessible parking spaces for cars to the PwDs:
1
3
2
4
5
Tối thiểu : 2.440 mm
2.400mm
5
1.525 mm
2.440 mm
1. Signs showing transportation access for PwDs should be mounted high enough
to be seen by drivers.
2. Access way (large enough for a wheelchair and a pedestrian)
3. Item to block the wheel / wheel clamp
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4. Access aisle of at least 1525mm width (enough room for a wheelchair to turn
around) must be flat (1/50 maximum slope at all directions). It must be the same
length as the adjacent parking spaces (on both sides). The end may be of squared
or curved shape
5.
Two parking spaces may share one access aisle (the width and length
depending on the type of vehicle)
2.2.5 Access to road surfaces:
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Pavements should be lowered down at places close to the main streets such as
zebra crossings, stop lines of cars, buses. The above picture shows the ideal width
accessible to wheelchair users
In Vietnam, TCXDVN 265:2002 stipulates clearly the design and technical figures
of the slope onto the pavement, the slanting degree of ways etc… to enable easy
access to wheelchair-users, persons with difficulty in moving, seeing.
2.2.6 Access to public transportation
2.2.6.1 Access to bus stop
Easy access to bus stops and waiting areas is beneficial to every passenger.
Approaches to bus stops should be paved and flat, with ways onto the pavements,
clear traffic signs with specific information. Ideally, bus stops should provide
separate waiting areas for passengers that do not conflict with nearby pedestrians.
2. 2.6.2 Shelters and waiting areas
These should be airy, large enough for wheelchair users to get easy access to bus
equipped with lifts or special ramps
Points to remember:
1/- Cleared entrances to waiting shelters to facilitate access for PwDs and wheelchair
users.
2/- Enough room with a priority sign for a standardized wheelchair beside the waiting
seats.
3/ - Slanting device onto the pavement to enable easy access for people with difficulty
moving
4/- Raised curb providing warning and orientation to people with difficulty seeing.
5/- Clear information about route and schedule, printed in large size to assist people
with difficulty seeing
6/- Restriction and prevention of any other obstacles
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2.2.6.3 Access to buses
Lifts and ramps onto and off the bus
-
The bus should be equipped with at least one lift or one ramp to help access onto and
off the bus, or one movable ramp.
The lift or ramp should meet the following requirements:
-
Safety weight of 300 kilos, or greater
Non-slip rough lift/ ramp surfaces.
Inside the bus
The inside of the bus should meet the following requirements of access to
wheelchairs:
1. Enough room for at least one wheelchair of minimum size, arranged in one of
these 2 ways:
Case 1: The wheelchair facing forward
¾ A space of at least
130 mm in length
750 mm in width
1500mm in height:
This might be designed by using foldout or movable seats or set along the aisle
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¾ Put a notice: 'Please move, turn down /up, fold this seat to make room for
a wheel chair user" (in Vietnamese), "Please give up this seat for
wheelchair user" (in English).
¾ Have a device to secure the wheelchair, safety belts for wheelchair users
that can be easily unfastened in case of emergency.
¾ Try to move and immobilize the security device, safety belts, as instructed
in the Decision regarding Standards of Transportation no. 14/2006/QDBGTVT on March 12th, 2006
Case 2: The wheelchair facing backward:
1. The wheelchair should be backed against a
bulkhead, and there should be horizontal hand
grips designed up to the standard of transport.
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Signs and information boards inside the bus:
- Priority signs for PwDs as follows (or equivalent symbols)
¾ Information boards with Braille or raised letters to assist people with
difficulty seeing
¾ Signs clearly showing the seating direction of the wheelchair user
¾ Instructions for safety usage of space reserved to wheelchair
¾ Instructions about coming stops should be given in written and spoken
ways to help the people with difficulty seeing and hearing.
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III/- Technical standards to support the PwDs by the Transportation and Public
Works department
References for students:
TCXD 228: 1998- Ways for the Disabled in a construction: Part 1. Ways for
disabled with wheelchairs.
-
TCXD 265:2002 "Streets and sidewalks- Basic principles of construction for easy
access to the PwDs."
-
TCXDVN 264: 2002- Houses and constructions- Basic principles of construction for
safety access to the PwDs."
-
QCXDVN 01:2002. Standard specifications of construction for safety access to the
PwDs.
TCN 302-06 "Modes of transportation by motor vehicles"
Legal documents concerning the direction, management, consultancy, execution
issued with the Decision 14/2006/QD-BGTVT on March 3rd, 2006
-
IV/ Conclusion:
Accessible transportation for the disabled in our country, and particularly in
HoChiMinh City, is not yet developed as appropriately as in neighboring
countries. In spite of the difficulties in planning the public traffic system,
strategies of accessible transportation for PwDs should be devised at the earliest
stage of road development, so as to avoid wasting time and money for alterations
to the traffic structures in the future.
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IV/ References:
www.globalride-sf.org
Accessible Transportation Around the World - Tom Rickert - AEI - Vietnamese
version by VNAH/USAID -vnah3@vnn.vn
Legal instruments: Issues of 15/03/2006 - Ministry of Transportation and Public
Works
Overview of the situation of disabled persons in Vietnam - The Disabled
Organization – HCMC
Profile of community-based rehabilitation - Medicine Publishing House- 1993
www.globalride-sf.org
www.wheelchair.com
www.phototrottoir.com
http://www.acclaimimages.com
Report on 7 years of implementation of traffic legislation for PwDs -Report BCCP
Vietnam’s Traffic Legislation articles 3, 31, 40 stipulate traffic usage for the
disabled.