Assessment and improvement of road safety in developing countries: Egypt as a prototype case study

This paper starts by presenting a conceptualization of the road safety pyramid, its components and affecting factors. The paper develops a three-step procedure to assess the road safety conditions in a developing country. The developed procedure is applied for Egypt as a prototype example representing developing countries. More than 40 criteria are identified and applied in an attempt to semantically assess the road safety culture in Egypt. Deaths per million vehicle kilometers are obtained for Egypt, three other Arab countries and 6 of the G-7 countries. These were compared in an effort to determine the road safety position of Egypt. Accident records collected in 1998 for five main rural roads in Egypt are compiled and analysed to recognise accident causes. More than 26 causes are identified. These are categorized under six main categories, namely driver related, pedestrian related, vehicle related, road related, environment-related causes and other causes. Furthermore, the paper develops an integrated road safety programme composed of 16 fields of actions. Each of these contains a number of recommended policies, measures and actions targeted to improve road safety in Egypt as well as in other developing countries. These are also categorized in accordance with the concerned authority/agency responsible for implementation. The paper concludes by suggesting further road safety research that is needed in developing countries.