Effect of Two-Lane Two-Way Rural Roadway Design Elements on Road Safety
Robert Ambunda1, Marion Sinclair2

1Robert Ambunda, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch South Africa.
2Marion Sinclair, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch South Africa.
Manuscript received on 05 February 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 13 February 2019 | Manuscript published on 28 February 2019 | PP: 632-637 | Volume-8 Issue-4, February 2019 | Retrieval Number: D2873028419/19©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Road design elements are some of the key factors influencing road user behaviour and road safety on roads worldwide. The study developed fatal crash predictive Negative Binomial Regression (NBR) models that identified statistically significant relationships between the combination of road design elements (radii and number of horizontal curves, hard shoulder widths, traffic operating speeds, road length and access control) selected for the study and the fatal crashes rates on the selected roads on the Namibian rural road network. The crash predictive NBR models developed indicated that the combination of the various selected road design elements had significant influence on the fatal crash rates, with various correlation magnitudes on roads with various lane widths. The study results brought to the fore the impact that interactions between selected road design elements has on existing road design and maintenance methods in Namibia. The NBR fatal crash models will assist transportation engineers in identifying hazardous road sections and implementing the appropriate remedial measures to reduce crash risk levels sustainably.
Keyword: Crash Modelling; Fatal Crashes; Negative Binomial Regression; Road Design Elements; Road Safety. 
Scope of the Article: Design Optimization of Structures