Assessment of the road safety performance of four roundabouts in Kumasi, Ghana

ABSTRACT

Upgrade of the Ejisu-Kumasi section of the N6 saw the construction of roundabouts at selected intersections. Their use appears challenging particularly for vehicles with elevated Centre-of-Gravity. The objective of this study was to establish the relative risk of traffic accident deaths or hospitalized injuries at the roundabouts. Five-year crash data covering a 100 m stretch upstream and downstream of the roundabouts were analysed. A total of 119 crashes occurred with 18% casualty hospitalization and 12%fatalities. Compared with the Ejisu roundabout, fatal or hospitalized injuries were significantly higher at the Boadi (OR = 25.6, p = 0.0021) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Police Station Junctions (OR = 48.2, p < 0.001). Occupants of buses, heavy goods vehicles and riders of two wheelers were at elevated risk of deaths or serious injuries. Crash severity at the round abouts was aggravated by night-time, steep gradients and adverse cambers. It is recommended that, signalization and grade separation should be used in the current arrangement where appropriate.

KEYWORDS:

• Modern roundabout
• road safety
• road injury casualties
• rollover collisions
• heavy goods vehicles

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful for the in-kind support received from the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), Ghana. In particular, authors are very grateful to Mr Joseph Larbi of BRRI for his assistance in data retrieval from the accident database.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.