Proactive approaches to audit pedestrian safety locations, a model for developing countries

This paper presents a pedestrian safety hotspot analysis to identify and prioritize specific road segments and intersections with high crash locations using Geographic Information System (GIS) which can be applied in sub-Saharan countries. The approach can well be applied in developing countries which are coupled with high traffic accident rates and injury severities. The identification process uses GIS environment through Getis-Ord Gi-star hotspot analysis tool. The goal is to examine the existence of a spatial pattern for pedestrian crashes associated with roadway geometry, socioeconomic, population distribution and other related factors. This methodology ranks high crash locations based on: crash frequency; weighted crash frequency by injury severities (EPDO); crash rates calculated per vehicle miles of travel (VMT), total population, and mean household income within a defined boundaries. The identified high crash locations and the rankings enable agencies to properly invest and prioritize funds to improve safety. It assists in identifying suitable locations for safety audits.