Editorial on Impacts on Traffic Safety

Abstract

Traffic Safety has been internationally recognized as a primary strategic goal in many societies. Traffic safety concept is not limited to the reduction of road accidents issue. It aims to initiate/create the right road safety behavior by setting all necessary educational, engineering and medical programs and plans, traffic regulations, and preventive measures. This would reduce or prevent accidents, ensure human and properties' safety, and preserve the human and economic wealth of the nation. Traffic safety issue should be considered as a national issue as it is strongly related to all aspects of life and has a close link with the protection and sustaining the natural environment. Road accidents are one of the most serious issues facing developed and developing countries. A report published in 2009 by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that some 1.2 million people were killed, and between 20 and 50 million suffer non-fatal injuries in traffic collisions on the roads around the world each year. The report illustrated that these collisions were the leading cause of death among children between 10 and 19 years of age. It also noted that the problem was most severe in developing countries [ 1 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) anticipates road accidents to be the third cause of death among the fifteen causes of death in 2020 [ 2 ]. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rates of road accidents on the road networks have increased dramatically. It has become a phenomenon affecting negatively all sectors of the society. It causes human suffering to individuals, and huge financial losses to the state and public as a result of accidents and deaths, injuries and disabilities. More than 6,000 people die and 35,000 people get injured every year, and the economic losses exceed 13 billion Riyals annually. Therefore, the concerted efforts of the society and the governmental and private organizations are necessary to improve road safety system, reduce the number of, and minimize fatalities and injuries [ 3 ]. The aim of this special issue is to present a number of Saudi and international experiences concerning traffic safety issue. Through this special issue, we aim to collect multidisciplinary research outcomes that address the relation between traffic safety and various factors that impact safety such as: road networks' engineering, management and control of the traffic system, planning and strategies, transportation systems, citizens' education, knowledge and behavior. The authors in this special issue have suggested a number of solutions to improve traffic safety and reduce fatalities. Altwaijri, Quddus and Bristow emphasized the importance of adopting safety strategies that consider various segments of the society. They suggested that greater emphasis should be put on native (i.e. Saudis) residents; and further emphasis on older age groups [ 4 ]. Ali and Tayfour recommended the implementation of efficient speed control, mandatory use of safety belts, proper training of drivers, and rigorous licensing. Also, driver behavior should be controlled and pedestrian crossing should be carefully planned and implemented [ 5 ]. Reffat argued that the use of an intelligent real-time virtual environment system would help in improving crowd management and facilitating efficient and timely vehicle traffic movement [ 6 ]. Elhamy advocated the reduction of the speed limit of roads, the improvement of pedestrian access and mobility, monitoring the compliance with traffic law. This could help reduce potential behavior that leads to crashes [ 7 ]. Ebrahim and Nikraz highlighted the importance of knowing how road users think in terms of speed reduction. This would lead to in-depth understanding of some of the unsafe behaviour that relates to risky speed against pedestrians. It is essential to educate expatriates about the benefit of adopting a lower speed limit thus avoiding possible crashes [ 8 ]. Finally, the guest editors of this special issue would like to thank the chief editors of the International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology for giving them a chance to publish these papers through the journal.