Representing two road traffic collisions in one Accimap: highlighting the importance of emergency response and enforcement in a low-income country

Abstract

Seemingly erratic pedestrian crossing has become a major source of vehicle-pedestrian collisions on highways in Bangladesh, and across other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this article, we approach the challenge from a sociotechnical systems perspective by using the Accimap method to analyse a pair of time-separated yet interconnected road traffic collisions. The first event involved a truck colliding with a road divider; in the second, fatal incident, a bus hit a university student. The traditional-style investigation conducted immediately after the collision apportioned blame to end users, that is, drivers and pedestrian; however, application of sociotechnical systems thinking revealed the contribution from lack of emergency response and enforcement among many other important factors. Results and recommendations are discussed in terms of reducing the chance and severity of such collisions across LMICs, and in terms of the need to look beyond the end-user, a focus that remains dominant in such settings. Practitioner summary: This paper applies sociotechnical systems thinking to pedestrian safety in Bangladesh by analysing two inter-connected road traffic collisions using a single Accimap. The findings emphasise the importance of implementing road safety interventions that target all system levels, and draw attention to the importance of post-collision response in low-income settings. Abbreviation: BUET: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology