Reviewing traffic conflict techniques for potential application to developing countries

The economic and social costs due to road crashes are disproportionately higher in developing countries. In addition, underreporting, coupled with an incomplete and inconsistent recording of reported crashes is a major issue in such settings. A brief outline of the dimension of road safety problems in developing countries and the most common limitations of existing crash databases is given in the paper. The challenges in applying traditional approaches for traffic safety evaluation and initiatives are also discussed. Diagnosis of road safety problems using traffic conflict techniques has received considerable research interest and has gained acceptance as a proactive surrogate measure in developed countries. Significant studies have been accomplished to develop, validate and apply different surrogate indicators for the estimation of traffic conflicts, as well as an assessment of the safety problem in different road geometric and operating conditions. This has provided a substitute for the historical crash records in traffic safety research. The main objective of this paper is to assess the application potentiality of this surrogate safety measures to address safety issues in developing countries. To do that, this paper critically reviews and synthesizes the different indicators of surrogate safety measures. The main principles, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the major indicators and prospects of application, are presented here. Finally, future research directions for road traffic safety assessment are outlined in the perspective of understanding the most concerning human issue due to traffic crashes in developing countries

REVIEWING TRAFFIC CONFLICT TECHNIQUES FOR POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The economic and social costs due to road crashes are disproportionately higher in developing countries. In addition, underreporting, coupled with an incomplete and inconsistent recording of reported crashes is a major issue in such settings. A brief outline of the dimension of road safety problems in developing countries and the most common limitations of existing crash databases is given in the paper. The challenges in applying traditional approaches for traffic safety evaluation and initiatives are also discussed. Diagnosis of road safety problems using traffic conflict techniques has received considerable research interest and has gained acceptance as a proactive surrogate measure in developed countries. Significant studies have been accomplished to develop, validate and apply different surrogate indicators for the estimation of traffic conflicts, as well as an assessment of the safety problem in different road geometric and operating conditions. This has provided a substitute for the historical crash records in traffic safety research. The main objective of this paper is to assess the application potentiality of this surrogate safety measures to address safety issues in developing countries. To do that, this paper critically reviews and synthesizes the different indicators of surrogate safety measures. The main principles, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the major indicators and prospects of application, are presented here. Finally, future research directions for road traffic safety assessment are outlined in the perspective of understanding the most concerning human issue due to traffic crashes in developing countries

Bakuchiol, a natural constituent and its pharmacological benefits [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background and aims Natural compounds extracted from medicinal plants have recently gained attention in therapeutics as they are considered to have lower Toxicity and higher tolerability relative to chemically synthesized compounds. Bakuchiol from Psoralea corylifolia L. is one such compound; it is a type of meroterpene derived from the leaves and seeds of Psoralea corylifolia plants. Natural sources of bakuchiol have been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine for centuries due to its preventive benefits against tumors and inflammation. It plays a strong potential role as an antioxidant with impressive abilities to remove Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). This review has focused on bakuchiol’s extraction, therapeutic applications, and pharmacological benefits. Methods A search strategy has been followed to retrieve the relevant newly published literature on the pharmacological benefits of bakuchiol. After an extensive study of the retrieved articles and maintaining the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 110 articles were finally selected for this review. Results Strong support of primary research on the protective effects via antitumorigenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antimicrobial, and antiviral activities are delineated. Conclusions From ancient to modern life, medicinal plants have always been drawing the attention of human beings to alleviate ailments for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. This review is a comprehensive approach to highlighting bona fide essential pharmacological benefits and mechanisms underlying their therapeutic applications

ROAD SAFETY ENGINEERING CHALLENGES IN BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT Road traffic accidents and injuries have now emerged as a serious man-made epidemic with an estimated 1.3 million people killed and as many as 50 million injured worldwide each year. Accidents are particularly prevalent in low and middle income countries-around 85 percent of the world's deaths occur in developing countries like Bangladesh. More than half of the world's traffic fatalities occur in the Asian-Pacific region although only one in five motorized vehicles are registered here. It is estimated that by 2020 about two-thirds of the world's traffic fatalities might be in the Asian-Pacific region. The road accidents statistics and characteristics revealed that Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates. About 70 percent of road accident fatalities occurred in rural areas including rural sections of national highways. Almost 80 percent of fatalities are vulnerable road users viz. pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. Pedestrianvehicle conflicts are clearly the greatest problem with significant involvement of trucks and buses. The road factors are particularly prevalent in accidents and it is well known that the systematic road design and engineering improvements can prevent many such accidents and save lives quickly and affordably. Indeed, road safety issue in Bangladesh thus posits a considerable challenge to the road engineering professionals. In this paper an attempt has been made to highlight the road safety issues and priorities in Bangladesh with particular emphasis on the road safety engineering challenges and opportunities

Road safety problems in bangladesh: achievable target and tangible sustainable actions

In spite of great progress in international traffic safety works, traffic accidents still cause a large and increasing number of fatalities and severe injuries particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. Sustained declining trends of road fatalities in the developed countries have been attributed to concerted efforts in many sectors including effective coordination, community involvement, well researched road safety initiatives, road safety good practices and improved targeting of resources. The statistics revealed that Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates in road accidents with over 50 fatalities per 10,000 on-road motor vehicles. In this paper, it is trying to show in detail the magnitude and impact of road traffic injuries using evidence at global and national levels with particular importance of regional variance. This evidence shows how serious the problem of road traffic injuries is at present and indicates that it will become worse if no appropriate action is taken now. This paper also briefly discusses the factors that play a part in accident generation process in interaction with road environment, road-user and vehicle and outlines some target oriented priority actions to prevent this recurrent loses

Application of traffic conflict techniques as surrogate safety measures: a sustainable solution for developing countries

Social, economic and infrastructure losses due to road traffic accidents and their consequences are very significant all over the world, particularly in developing countries. The evaluation of causative factors of accidents and the selection of remedial measures continues to be based mainly on traditional approaches. Whereas, accident statistics are frequently questioned due to large underreporting of accidents, injuries and property damages, coupled with incomplete and inconsistent recording of information on reported accidents. Poor timelines, ethical issues, biasness and human error are also critical issues. This paper present a comprehensive assessment of the data quality of reported accident databases, in terms of the degree and diversity of the reporting and recording inconsistency, using a case study from Bangladesh.For a more rigorous and sustainable form of safety analysis there is a need for robust methods that may yield targeted safety measures without the need to use accident data. Application of traffic conflict techniques for the diagnosis of accidents has gained research interest as a proactive surrogate approach. However, this has been developed and tested primarily based on lane based homogeneous traffic conditions prevailing in developed countries. Development of advanced image processing systems, as well as video analysis techniques for automatic discrimination of conflicts, has open new prospects. Traffic safety micro-simulation modeling using surrogate indicators is also a promising advancement in this context. This paper provides a framework for safety evaluation beyond the traditional approaches with the integration of recent advancement in surrogate safety evaluation for non-lane based traffic environments. Finally, future research directions, designed to achieve sustainable road safety objectives in developing counties, are outlined

Analysis of speed behaviour of drivers on a rural highway in a developing country

This paper deals with the speeding behaviour of vehicles on a two-lane bi-directional highway in a heterogeneous traffic environment. Data has been collected using the floating car method from a major national highway in Bangladesh. Speed data extracted second by second has been analysed for a range of short road segments. Different attributes related to speed and speed behaviour has been analysed. The major contribution of this paper is the identification and quantification of significant attributes influencing speed choice in each small segment of road in a heterogeneous traffic environment. Finally, an ordinary-least-square (OLS) regression model to estimate segment mean flow speed has been proposed

Factors affecting driver speed choice behaviour in a two-lane two-way heterogeneous traffic environment: a micro-level analysis

This paper deals with the speed choice behaviour of driver on a two-lane bidirectional highway in a heterogeneous traffic environment of a developing country. The major contribution of the paper is the identification and quantification of significant attributes influencing speed choice of a driver at micro-level of the road under study. The latter explored the use of ordinary least square (OLS) and random parameter (RPM) regression models as an alternative methodological approach to relate factors such as road geometry, roadside environment, traffic mix and operational characteristics with driver speed choice at the small segmental level. The comparison of the empirical results shows the RPM model outperforms its fixed parameter-based OLS counterpart. The approach justifies the need to take into account the potential heterogeneity in the impact of factors at the micro-level speed choice behaviour analysis. The analysis used data collected from a section of a major national highway in Bangladesh. Speed data extracted second-by-second was analysed for a range of short road segments. The critical segment length, from the point of view of speed analysis, was identified using different statistical tests. The paper details the data collection method used, as well as the speed-related statistics analysis performed. The results obtained could be used to better understand the speed choice factors of drivers. The findings could also be used to inform policy decisions for managing the appropriate homogeneity of speed among the motorized vehicles of two-lane highways in developing countries, a prerequisite for ensuring safe movement of road users