IP0165
THE ENGINEERING ASPECTS OF
policy and governance in road safety
Ray Adrian C. Macalalag, M.Eng.
IN WESTERN VISAYAS, THE PHILIPPINES
1. BACKGROUND
A
PROVINCE OF AKLAN
Western Visayas ranks third in terms of regions with the highest incidence of fatal road crashes.
The Philippines, classified as a middle-income country based on a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), has an estimated number of 11 deaths per 100,000 populations per annum. They estimated 10,379 deaths for 2015 and cited ineffective or absent legislation in drink-driving, child seats, and use of helmets. Considering its archipelagic landscape, transport systems vary from region to region. Means of transportation has a wide range encompassing bicycles, motorcycles, tricycles, cars, utility vehicles, and buses. Notwithstanding, goods are transported mainly by trucks which move from one island to another through roll-on-roll-off ports. According to the 2015 summarized data of TABLE 1 Road Safety-Related Laws in the Philippines the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Western Visayas ranks third in terms of regions with the highest incidence of fatal R.A. Title road crashes with a total of 873 following 4136 Land Transportation and Traffic Code Calabarzon with 967 and Central Luzon with 1,201. In terms of the major causes of road 8750 Seatbelts Use Act traffic injuries, human error is the leading 10054 Motorcycle Helmet Act cause followed by vehicular defect, and 10586 Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act road defect based on the Traffic Accident 10666 Children’s Safety on Motorcycles Act Report and Analysis System (TARAS) 2013 10913 Anti-Distracted Driving Act output of the Department of Public Works 10916 Road Speed Limiter Act and Highways (DPWH).
Among the available data for road crash retrieved were basic information such as location (province and city/municipality), date of occurrence, time of occurrence, and severity of crash (fatal or non-fatal/physical injury).
I
t can be observed that the most vulnerable cities and municipalities are traversed by national highways. The more concentrated these roads are in the locality, the higher the number of cases. More crashes are happening on smoother and flatter terrains as these locations are more urbanized and more populated. In this sense, more road intersections exist which result in conflict points that lead to road crash.
PROVINCE OF CAPIZ
FIGURE 3
Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Avenue
PROVINCE OF ANTIQUE PROVINCE OF ILOILO San Jose de Buenavista
North
As illustrated in Figure 1 and Table 3, Iloilo City, Roxas City, and Kalibo have earned scores of 10.00 which mean they are mostly vulnerable among the many places in Western Visayas. These are also closely followed by developed municipalities nearby and traversed by national primary and secondary roads. Iloilo City serving not just as the capital of the Province of Iloilo but also serve as the regional center, has much advanced highway infrastructure with major thoroughfares having a minimum of four lanes to as much as eight lanes such as the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Avenue in Figure 3 which leads to Iloilo International Airport.
PROVINCE OF GUIMARAS
Iloilo City Jordan
Provincial Boundary Primary Road Secondary Road Score
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Antique
San Jose
Capiz
Roxas City
Guimaras
Jordan
Iloilo
Iloilo City
LOVS
Kalibo
Facotred Score
Aklan
Modified Road Density
Capital
Factored Score
Vulnerability of Provincial Capitals in Western Visayas, 2017
Non-Fatal Cases 2015-2017
Province
2
Factored Score
TABLE 3
1
Fatal Cases 2015-2017
T
Planning and Design Division, Regional Office VI Department of Public Works and Highways Republic of the Philippines
Locational Vulnerability Score of Cities and Municipalities in Western Visayas, 2017
Roxas City
Upon review of the standards set by the DPWH and in retrospect of the practices abroad through the Global Road Safety Partnership, the study attempts to provide inputs for reference in future policies and legislations.
he Philippines currently does not have a full blown road crash database and has limited data available which can be generated from the electronic blotter system of the Philippine National Police (PNP) pertaining road crashes. Thus, it is imperative to take advantage of what is already available and to use these data to come up with relationships between them.
FIGURE 1
Kalibo
The effectives and the completeness of the existing laws (as seen on Table 1), issuances, and related regulations of the Philippine government to road safety under the long-term Decade for Action in Road Safety, specifically on the “Safer Roads” pillar or the highway safety design aspects, need to be delved into with a limited data set available.
2. LOCATIONAL VULNERABILITY SCORE
macalalag.ray@gmail.com
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Boracay
pressing issue for the Philippine government is to provide safe travel along the national highway system. This has posed a problem in the overall fundamental principles governing the engineering, traffic, and transport planning.
24
5.00
667
5.00
0.2587
5.00
10.00
9
3.00
299
3.99
0.4098
5.00
8.00
29
5.00
1,008
5.00
0.3132
5.00
10.00
7
2.33
169
3.13
0.1605
5.00
6.97
53
5.00
2,946
5.00
0.7030
5.00
10.00
Location and Administrative Divisions of Region VI or Western Visayas, 2017
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 4
To sum up the demographics, Western Visayas has a total of 903 cases of fatal road crashes and 15,724 non-fatal crashes resulting to injury for a total of 16,627. Some of the data collected in the blotter reports were lacking which left a few complete parameters such as the date of occurrence, time of occurrence, as well as the classification of the crash whether it was fatal or non-fatal. In Figure 4, the time of occurrence show an interesting pattern.
Occurerence Time of Road Crashes in Western Visayas, 2015-2017
1,600
With the above collected information, the Locational Vulnerability Score (LOVS) is defined. It is the overall vulnerability of a certain city or municipality to occurrences of road crashes. It will take into account the Modified Road Density (MRD) or the density of the national road per unit area of the locality as well as its characteristics based on being fatality prone and injury prone.
TABLE 2
Equivalent Factored Scores per Criteria
Factored Score
Modified Road Density
Fatality Proneness (Average)
Injury Proneness (Average)
5.00
0.1183+
7+
150+
4.00 - 4.99
0.0947
5.00 - 6.99
100.00 - 149.99
3.00 - 3.99
0.0710*
3.00 - 4.99
50.00 - 99.99
2.00 - 2.99
0.0473
2.00 - 2.99
25.00 - 49.99
1.00 - 1.99
0.0237
1.00 - 1.99
1.00 - 24.99
Each risk factor considered will be calibrated in scales of 1 to 5 with the latter being the highest. The scales shall be factored to fit the computed averages of fatality and injury as well as the modified road density based on the scale as shown in Table 2. This data analysis will look into the vulnerability of the various cities and municipalities in Western Visayas (Figure 2).
1,200
Nighttime
1,000 800 600 400
4. CONCLUSION
D
evelopment is inevitable and it is an opportunity to improve the economy of a certain city or municipality. In the cases of Iloilo City, Roxas City, and Kalibo, these localities must ensure that the ongoing growth of their businesses and industries do not affect the serviceability and safety of national roads whose aim is to assure interconnectivity between cities, municipalities, and provinces. Their respective local government units
mountains are safe
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Fort San Pedro Drive, City Proper Iloilo City 5000 Philippines • www.dpwh.gov.ph
Western Visayas has lower cases of road crash in difficult terrains.
should always think of the purpose of the national highways as opportunities of interconnectivity and not opportunities for mere development. Businesses and industries may still be applicable for that area provided that there is proper channelization of roads and that providing access to such locations keep changes (such as formation of a junction and addition of traffic conflict points) in the road geometry at a minimum. Also, national roads should at least be given proper lighting at night to increase visibility and eventually further curb night time crashes. zoning can improve safety Comprehensive land use plans should harmonize with infrastructure development and consider highway safety
5:00 AM
4:00 AM
3:00 AM
2:00 AM
1:00 AM
12:00 MN
11:00 PM
10:00 PM
9:00 PM
8:00 PM
7:00 PM
6:00 PM
5:00 PM
4:00 PM
3:00 PM
2:00 PM
1:00 PM
12:00 NN
11:00 AM
10:00 AM
9:00 AM
0
8:00 AM
200
Republic of the Philippines
DPWH Regional Office VI - Western Visayas
road crash occurs more often at day.
Daytime
7:00 AM
In addition, the national road inventory data were also collected from the DPWH Road and Bridge Information Application (RBIA). The primary and secondary roads were considered since the tertiary road does not have a high demand like the former. Primary roads are roads which connect at least three cities while secondary roads serve interprovincial and intermunicipal linkages.
1,400
6:00 AM
The Locational Vulnerability Score (LoVS) is the overall vulnerability of a certain city or municipality to occurrences of road crashes.
Specific dates which include the year, month, and day of the crash were summarized to include only a three-year period. This particular period was chosen based on the criteria set by the DPWH Accident Blackspot Investigation Manual wherein a blackspot is defined as a specific location or road section with at least three road crashes resulting in serious to fatal injuries in a span of two to three years.
Using the modified road density, it can be recommended that a certain locality should keep it at a minimum so as to decrease the level of exposure to road crash risks. Cities and municipalities may also improve their locational vulnerability score by targeting lower number of cases of road crash since the MRD only has the opportunity of increasing based on the current Philippine setting where development of highway infrastructure is apparent.
urbanized areas Could be deadly
Urban areas have higher cases of road crash and they have more fatal cases than rural areas.
REFERENCES World Health Organization (2011). Risk Factors for Road Traffic Injuries. Road Safety Training Manual. Violence and Injury Prevention. Unit 2. pp 2326 • Global Road Safety Partnership (2017). Philippines: Situation. Global Road Safety Partnership. • Francisco, K. (2017). The 5 pillars behind the Philippines’ road safety action plan. Rappler Road Safety. • Gichaga, F. J. (2017). The Impact of Road Improvements on Road Safety and Related Characteristics. IATSS Research. International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Volume 40, Issue 2, pp 72-75. • Department of Public Works and Highways (2013). Identifying Hazardous Locations. Accidental Blackspot Investigation Handbook. Project Preparation for the Accident Blackspot Program. DPWH Bureau of Quality and Safety. pp 8-12 • National Economic and Development Authority (2011). Chapter II – The Regional Development Framework. Regional Development Plan (Western Visayas), 20112016. National Economic and Development Authority Region VI. pp 7-9