COUNTERMEASURES TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Due to lack of human and financial resources, deficiencies in the legislation, poor traffic enforcement and lack of coordinated efforts for improvement, the road accidents have increased in developing countries. In order to improve road safety a project is initiated in Kenya. The project includes indentification of the problems by a study of prevailing situation, preparation of a programme of countermeasures to improve road safety and implementation of the measures found feasible. It is not enough to amend the traffic legislation, traffic enforcement should also be made more efficient. The recommendations also include systematic traffic education, information and research. Driver licencing, vehicle inspection, traffic engineering, road design and maintenance also need attention if road safety is to be improved. Finally the recommendations include improvement of accident data collection, speed limit system, etc. (Author/TRRL)