Appraisal of urban road safety factors in South Africa

Traffic safety in the suburban roads of South African cities is a major challenge. Although many studies have explored the contributing factors, the influence of urban factors such as land use, urban form, urban pattern, accessibility and density on the occurrence of traffic crashes have been least explored. This investigation examined the influence of the major urban factors that cause traffic crashes and how road safety can be improved in the suburban arterial roads. For this purpose, a case study was performed using the Bloemfontein city of South Africa. The findings have shown that the level of accessibility (number of accessible roads) from residential areas to arterial roads is the major variable, which causes traffic crashes. Road geometry variables such as the median width and road width influence the occurrence of traffic crashes to a certain extent. Reduction in the number of access roads from the suburban residential areas to the arterial roads, provision of adequate medians in roads with no divided facility along with urban planning interventions, such as appropriate urban pattern, and avoidance of location of urban functions in convoluted areas will enable reduction in the occurrence of traffic crashes and improve road safety in the cities of South Africa.