The relation between surface texture of asphalt pavements and accidents in Ghana

Abstract

Poor pavement surface conditions have been recognized to be contributory factors for road accidents. Empirical relationship between accident explanatory variables (traffic flow, road geometry and road features) on link secti-ons of asphalted trunk roads were investigated using 617 test lengths selected from three geographical zones in Ghana. Traffic conditions, road variables, skid resistance, texture depth, and accident data for the period 2000 - 2004 were analysed to develop models to establish the inter-relationships between skid resistance, macrotexture and incidence of accidents. Poisson regression relating to accident frequency and exposure variables were also considered. Texture depth values indicated that accident reduction might be associated with improved macrotex-ture. The accident models based on traffic flow, link length and exploratory variables described adequately the accident frequency on the road segments studied.