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Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine

Received: 17 March 2019    Accepted: 25 April 2019    Published: 23 May 2019
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Abstract

Local statistics in the last ten years indicate that the number of road accidents in both Gaza Strip and the West Bank is continuously increasing. Recent statistics by the Traffic Accidents Investigation Office of the Palestinian Police, recorded 2710 road accidents in 2016 in Gaza Strip, causing 84 deaths with a high rate of fatalities per 100,000 vehicles. This work aims to provide a general study about traffic safety condition in Gaza Strip and to assess the status of road safety audit (RSA). This work is also expected to encourage stakeholder agencies in Gaza Strip to make potential changes toward enhancing traffic safety. The results and discussion in this paper are based on the collected data on RSA actions in Gaza Strip’s agencies by several methods; interviews, electronic communications and exploring several specialized local and international websites. This was followed by a comparison between local and international procedures of RSA. The results indicate that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip suffers from several shortages and deficiencies. The results also proved that the local implementation of RSA is non-frequent and unsystematic. They also revealed that there is no adopted or standard guideline for RSA in Gaza Strip and that there is a lack of qualified and multi-disciplinary RSA teams. The research concludes that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip needs more attention as well as continuous development. The adopted RSA guidelines for the West Bank (version 2013) are suitable and they are recommended to be used in Gaza Strip.

Published in American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11
Page(s) 37-47
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Road Safety Audit, Road Safety Audit Review (Inspection), Traffic Safety, Gaza Strip, Palestine

References
[1] WHO, "Road traffic injuries," 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries. [Accessed 25 Dec 2018].
[2] Y. Huvarinen, E. Svatkova, E. Oleshchenko and S. Pushchina, "Road Safety Audit," Elsevier, 2017.
[3] M. Nishimura, “Application of Road Safety Audits in Japan—Organizational Culture and Absorptive Capacity Perspectives,” Journal of Safety Studies, 2017.
[4] FHWA, FHWA Road Safety Audit Guidelines, FHWA, 2006.
[5] Austroads Experience, “Road safety audit,” 1994. [Online]. Available: www.transportationgroup.nz/papers/2002/14_Appleton.PDF (19-Aug-2017).
[6] IHT, DESIGN MANUAL FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES, The Great Britain: Institution of Highway and Transportation, 2017.
[7] S. Abu-Eisheh, Y. Sarraj, K. Al-Sahili, W. Alhajyaseen and J. Hamadneh, "NATIONAL TRAFFIC SAFETY PROFILE: PALESTINE 1970-2015," 2017.
[8] PCBS, Book of annual statistics of Gaza governorates, 2014, Ramallah: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2015.
[9] I. M. ElAstal, "Modeling Road Accident Black Spots in Gaza Strip Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) 2000-2013," Central library - Islamic University - Gaza, 2014.
[10] K. Shaqra, Interviewee, Adopted Procedures for Road Safety Audit in Gaza Municipality - Department of Traffic. [Interview]. 7 Nov 2017.
[11] A. R. Sheheiber, Interviewee, Adopted Procedures for Road Safety Audit in Ministry of Public works and Housing. [Interview]. 29 Oct 2017.
[12] General Administration of Roads and Projects, "A Field Study of The Traffic Problems at Street No.10," Ministry of Transport, Gaza, 2013.
[13] General Administration of Roads and Projects, "A Field Study of The Problems at Salah El-Din Segment Street from Street No. 10 to Wadi Gaza Bridge," Ministry of Transport, Gaza, 2016.
[14] General Administration of Roads and Projects, "A Field Study of The Traffic Problems of Al-Aqsa Street From Street No.8 to Street No.10," Ministry of Transport, Gaza, 2017.
[15] A. F. Doqqi, Interviewee, Road Safety Audit Procedures. [Interview]. 5 Nov 2017.
[16] K. Matar, Interviewee, Road Safety Audit Procedures in local Consultating Companies. [Interview]. 8 Nov 2017.
[17] H. Al Madhoun, Interviewee, Road Safety Audit Procedures in Engineering Association. [Interview]. 6 Nov 2017.
[18] TMS Consultancy, "Road Safety Audit - Qatar," 2010. [Online]. Available: http://www.tmsconsultancy.co.uk/services/case-studies/road-safety-audit-qatar/. [Accessed 15 May 2018].
[19] I. Ahmed, O. Puan and C. Ismail, "A Comparative Review of Road Safety Audit Guidelines of Selected Countries," Jurnal Teknologi, 2013.
[20] World Health Organization, "Global Health Observatory (GHO) data-Number of Road Traffic Deaths," 2013. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/number_text/en/. [Accessed 31 Oct 2018].
[21] Wikimedia Commons, "Gaza Strip map - ITA.svg," 2018. [Online]. Available: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaza_Strip_map_-_ITA.svg. [Accessed 08 Nov 2018].
[22] A. R. M. Sheheiber, Interviewee, Description Data about Salah al-Din Street from Ministry of Public works and Housing. [Interview]. 15 Jan 2018.
[23] Engineering and Management Consulting Center, "Projects details - Reconstruction Of Al- Rasheed Road In Gaza Strip," 2014. [Online]. Available: http://www.emcc.ps/projects_details/96. [Accessed 18 Jan 2018].
[24] Wikipedia, "Salah al-Din Road," 6 Sep 2016. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_al-Din_Road. [Accessed 12 Jan 2018].
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Fadel Omar Alhelou, Yahya Rushdi Sarraj. (2019). Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine. American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 4(2), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11

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    ACS Style

    Fadel Omar Alhelou; Yahya Rushdi Sarraj. Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine. Am. J. Traffic Transp. Eng. 2019, 4(2), 37-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11

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    AMA Style

    Fadel Omar Alhelou, Yahya Rushdi Sarraj. Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine. Am J Traffic Transp Eng. 2019;4(2):37-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11,
      author = {Fadel Omar Alhelou and Yahya Rushdi Sarraj},
      title = {Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine},
      journal = {American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering},
      volume = {4},
      number = {2},
      pages = {37-47},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtte.20190402.11},
      abstract = {Local statistics in the last ten years indicate that the number of road accidents in both Gaza Strip and the West Bank is continuously increasing. Recent statistics by the Traffic Accidents Investigation Office of the Palestinian Police, recorded 2710 road accidents in 2016 in Gaza Strip, causing 84 deaths with a high rate of fatalities per 100,000 vehicles. This work aims to provide a general study about traffic safety condition in Gaza Strip and to assess the status of road safety audit (RSA). This work is also expected to encourage stakeholder agencies in Gaza Strip to make potential changes toward enhancing traffic safety. The results and discussion in this paper are based on the collected data on RSA actions in Gaza Strip’s agencies by several methods; interviews, electronic communications and exploring several specialized local and international websites. This was followed by a comparison between local and international procedures of RSA. The results indicate that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip suffers from several shortages and deficiencies. The results also proved that the local implementation of RSA is non-frequent and unsystematic. They also revealed that there is no adopted or standard guideline for RSA in Gaza Strip and that there is a lack of qualified and multi-disciplinary RSA teams. The research concludes that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip needs more attention as well as continuous development. The adopted RSA guidelines for the West Bank (version 2013) are suitable and they are recommended to be used in Gaza Strip.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - Assessment of Road Safety Audit Status in Gaza Strip, Palestine
    AU  - Fadel Omar Alhelou
    AU  - Yahya Rushdi Sarraj
    Y1  - 2019/05/23
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11
    T2  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
    SP  - 37
    EP  - 47
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2578-8604
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20190402.11
    AB  - Local statistics in the last ten years indicate that the number of road accidents in both Gaza Strip and the West Bank is continuously increasing. Recent statistics by the Traffic Accidents Investigation Office of the Palestinian Police, recorded 2710 road accidents in 2016 in Gaza Strip, causing 84 deaths with a high rate of fatalities per 100,000 vehicles. This work aims to provide a general study about traffic safety condition in Gaza Strip and to assess the status of road safety audit (RSA). This work is also expected to encourage stakeholder agencies in Gaza Strip to make potential changes toward enhancing traffic safety. The results and discussion in this paper are based on the collected data on RSA actions in Gaza Strip’s agencies by several methods; interviews, electronic communications and exploring several specialized local and international websites. This was followed by a comparison between local and international procedures of RSA. The results indicate that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip suffers from several shortages and deficiencies. The results also proved that the local implementation of RSA is non-frequent and unsystematic. They also revealed that there is no adopted or standard guideline for RSA in Gaza Strip and that there is a lack of qualified and multi-disciplinary RSA teams. The research concludes that traffic safety sector in Gaza Strip needs more attention as well as continuous development. The adopted RSA guidelines for the West Bank (version 2013) are suitable and they are recommended to be used in Gaza Strip.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Civil Engineering Department, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine

  • Civil Engineering Department, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine

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