Speed Management and Safe Crossing on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway (N2) in Bangladesh

The selection of the intervention locations happened in the following way. The team (<strong>Safe</strong>
<strong>Crossing</strong>s <strong>and</strong> CIPRB) had heard from people in Bangladesh <strong>and</strong> also read in an article in
the newspaper the Guardian (Kelly, 2012) that the N2 highway had a poor reputation in
terms of road safety. In the first months of 2014 team went on a trip by car on the highway,
starting from Dhaka. At that time, the team did not possess any quantitative information on
the number <strong>and</strong> severity of road crashes at any of the intervention locations. During this trip
team stopped at sites where there was an absence of road safety measures, a village with a
school nearby, <strong>and</strong> a presence of a main ‘conflict zone’ between motorized traffic <strong>and</strong> VRUs
that is limited in space.
Pedestrians were the main focus because they accounted for 63% of all fatalities in the
Before Period. For all road users combined, prior to installing the interventions, the three
intervention locations combined had, on average, per year: 110 serious crashes, 12 deaths,
<strong>and</strong> 240 injured people. The program did not only reduce the number of fatalities for
vulnerable road users but also for other road users. The number of fatalities as a result of
head-on-collisions has been decreased significantly. Thus, the program increased the road
safety for all road users.
A comprehensive plan including low cost engineering measures, training, education <strong>and</strong>
community engagement process had been designed for these locations. A comprehensive beforeafter
study was done using three methods with 3 control locations for speed measurement.
Firstly, a st<strong>and</strong>ardized method for conflict observation called DOCTOR was used. Secondly,
the speed of passing motorized traffic was measured. Using known relationships, the results
were translated into a predicted improvement in road safety. Thirdly, we created our own
crash database to monitor the number of crashes, traffic fatalities <strong>and</strong> injuries.
The predicted pattern was that traffic calming would reduce the speed of motorized traffic.
This in turn would reduce the number <strong>and</strong> severity of conflicts <strong>and</strong> crashes. Using the models
of Elvik (2009) <strong>and</strong> Nilsson (1982), we can translate a reduction in the measured conflicts
into reductions of fatal crashes <strong>and</strong> crashes with severe injuries. Assuming a reduction
in average speed from 70 km/hr to 50 km/hr, the models of Elvik <strong>and</strong> Nilsson predict a
reduction in fatal crashes of 75%.
The results may well affect the health <strong>and</strong> transport policy in Bangladesh. Taking into account
the positive results of this study, the logical next step would be to implement a similar program
across Bangladesh.
Report on <strong>Speed</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Crossing</strong> on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway (N2) in Bangladesh 12