There has been a continuous growth of traffic accidents and population in Dar es Salaam. The main problem is that although accident data are available, no thorough analysis is being done to find out their contributing factors and necessary countermeasures. There is a need to study the available road traffic accident data to find out characteristics of the accidents and the possible countermeasures required in minimising or alleviating them. Suitable countermeasures, completely adapted to local circumstances must be developed. A studying the characteristics of road traffic accidents for one principal route in the city of Dar es Salaam, identifying the hazardous locations using MAAP5 procedure, establishing the most likely causes of accidents, and proposing and designing road safety engineering countermeasures are the specific tasks in this research work. This thesis presents the work done in this research work. It is structured as follows. First, an overview of road traffic accidents in Tanzania and in Dar es Salaam is given. Next, a comprehensive overview of traffic safety issues is presented. Then, the nature of the problem, the objectives and scope of the research is described. Afterwards, a comprehensive analysis is presented and the black spots are identified and the accident patterns for the selected route, the proposed countermeasures and the corresponding cost estimates are presented in chapter five. Finally, the main conclusions and recommendations are given. This research is expected to contribute towards demonstrating how available traffic safety data can be used, and how analysis of data can lead to the identification of safety black spots and formulation of countermeasures. The benefits of safer roads are rather obvious. Safer roads lead to reduced number of deaths, disabilities and property loss resulting from accidents. Also, the use of scarce medical facilities for treatment of casualties and use of limited funds and hard currency for replacement of vehicles and spare parts can be reduced. Socially, safer roads reduce human suffering, grief and sorrow. (A)
Abstract