CE 675 – TRAFFIC SAFETY (3 Credits)
Description: Definition of the highway safety problem. Accident analysis and prediction model,
Hazardous location identification, Safety Audit, Safety improvement programs. Planning for safety,
safety in design, safety in traffic operations. Traffic barriers. Case studies.
Lecture: Monday & Wednesday, 2:30-3:45 PM
Textbook:
Road Safety Manual (2003) World Road Association.
Elvik, R. and T. Vaa (2004) Handbook of Traffic Safety Countermeasures. Elsevier Sc. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
ITE (1999) The Traffic Safety Toolbox: a primer on traffic safety. Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, D.C.
Highly recommended Textbooks:
Hauer, E. (1997) Observational Before-After Studies in Road Safety: Estimating the Effect of Highway and Traffic Engineering
Measures on Road Safety. Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
Roadside Design Guide, 3rd Edition, AASHTO. Washington, D.C.
Additional relevant material:
WHO (2004) World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. Eds. Peden et al. WHO.
Ogden K. (1996) Safer Roads: A Guide to Road Safety Engineering. Ashgate Pub. Ltd., England.
Persaud, B.N. (2001) Statistical Methods in Highway Safety Analysis.
NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 295, TRB, Washington, D.C.
Instructor: Prof. Jobair B. Alam, Ph.D.
Course objectives:
Provide fundamental engineering bases for conducting traffic safety analyses and a critical look at the state-of-the-
art methods in traffic safety.
Course Outcome:
Understand the basic concepts of highway safety and the crash process. Conduct safety-related studies: safety
performance functions, before-after studies and identification of hazardous sites. Critically review the literature on
RTA countermeasures.
Topics:
1. Introduction to Traffic Safety. Review of Global and KSA Situations.
2. Human Factors in Traffic Safety
3. Economic Costs of Crashes and Value of Life
4. Crash Data Collection and Database Management
5. Elements of Statistics and Probability
6. Exploratory Analysis of Crash Data
7. Regression Analysis of Count Data and Development of Statistical Models
8. Before-After Studies
9. Identification of Hazardous Locations
10. Traffic Accident Counter Measures
11. Road Safety Audit and Highway Safety Manual (HSM) application
12. Introduction to computer application in traffic safety analysis
Attendance: Very Important
Course Evaluation: Exams: 40%, Term Paper and Assignment: 40%, Class Participation: 20%
