Global motorcyclists: A unique methodology to identify traffic hotspots around the world and then try to find answers to extinguish them
June 30th, 2018“…..Crowdsourcing. They would survey motorcyclists about road traffic “hotspots”—areas of high-density crash locations—in the region. They hypothesized that the people who spend their days traversing across town would have valuable insights that could help inform future road safety interventions. It turns out they were right. Staton, Vissoci, Østbye and Luciano Andrade, a post-doctoral researcher working with Staton, initially tested this method in Kigali, Rwanda, and Galle, Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Stephen Rulisa in Rwanda and Vijitha Da Silva in Sri Lanka. They asked moto drivers in Rwanda and tuk-tuk (three-wheel) drivers in Sri Lanka to identify dangerous locations in the region and label the severity of danger of each location. Then, the researchers compared police data to the information the drivers provided.
The study not only showed that data from these “high road utilizers” aligned well with police data, but also identified potential additional hotspots. The research team also found that this crowdsourcing approach is less costly than collecting police data and is easily reproducible, adaptable and interpretable. They were able to replicate the study in Moshi, Tanzania, a year later in collaboration with KCMC researcher Mark Mvungi and got similar results…..
The next step….is to formulate targeted, cost-effective interventions to minimize the risk in these traffic hotspots. These interventions might include measures such as adding speed bumps; improving road pavement conditions, visibility and signage; and promoting helmet use……”