nepal 2010 status for the year

7/30/2019 Nepal 2010 Status for the year

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Status Paper on Road safety in Nepal Keshab K Sharma

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STATUS PAPER ON ROAD SAFETY IN NEPAL, 2011

The fourth meeting of the Working Group on the Asian Highway

and

Export Group Meeting on Progress on Road Safety Improvement

in Asia and the Pacific

Bangkok, Thailand, 27 to 29 September 2011

KeshabKumarSharma

SeniorDivisionalEngineer,

DepartmentofRoads,Nepal

September,2011


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Contents

Acronyms 3

1 Background

2 National statistical trends in road accidents 5

3 Current national Government policy for road safety 8

4 National road safety indicators 10

5 Asian Highway road safety status and trends 17

6 Areas of Improvement 21

7 Suggestions for managing road safety 21

Annex 1: Publication of Road Safety Notes and Documents from DoR

Acronyms


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ADB Asian Development BankAH Asian HighwayARM Araniko RajmargaCDO Chief District OfficerDDC District Development CommitteeDFID/UK Department for International Development of the United KingdomDoR Department of RoadsDoTM Department of Transport ManagementDoLIDAR Department of Local Infrastructure and Agricultural Roads

E-W Highway East- West HighwayGDP Gross Domestic ProductGoN Government of NepalHMIS Highway Management Information SystemHMIU Highway Management Information UnitHVMP Heavy Vehicle Management PolicyLRN Local Road NetworkLSGA Local Self-Governance ActMoE Ministry of EducationMoH Ministry of HomeMoLD Ministry of Local DevelopmentMoLT Ministry of Labor and TransportMoPPW Ministry of Physical Planning and WorksMRM Mahendra Rajmarga

NGO Non Governmental OrganizationNMRM Narayanghat Mugling RajmargaNRB Nepal Road BoardNRSP National Road Safety PlanNTSC National Transportation Safety CommitteePIP Priority Investment PlanPRA Public Road ActPRM Prithvi RajmargaRBA Road Board ActTA Technical AssistanceTESU Traffic Engineering and Safety UnitTPO Traffic Police OfficeTRP Tribhuvan RajpathSBST Single Bituminous Surface Treatment

SRN Strategic Road NetworkSSRN Statistics of Strategic Road NetworkUK The United KingdomUSA The United States of AmericaVTMA Vehicle and Transportation Management ActVTMR Vehicle and Transportation Management RegulationWB World BankZTMO Zonal Transport Management Office


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Status Paper on Road safety in Nepal 2010 Keshab K Sharma

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1. Background

Nepal is a land locked country located between 800 4' and 880 12' in longitude and between 260

22' and 300 27' latitude. It borders the Peoples Republic of China on the north and India on the

remaining three sides. The average length of the country (East West) is 885 km with the width

varying from 133 km to 255 km (North- South) and covers an area of 147,181 sq. Km, which isapproximately 0.33% of the area of Asia and 0.03% of the world. The Population of the country

is 25.3 millions1with growth rate 2.24% per annum.

Interim Constitution, 2006 has proposed the country as a federal republic but the structure of

federation is yet to be finalized. The general election for Constitutional Assembly (CA) was

held on 2008. The country is in process of drafting new constitution through the CA.

a. Introduction

Road traffic accident is serious global problem. Each year over 1 million people are killed and50 million injured on roads around the world. Without new and effective action, deaths in low

to middle-income countries are forecast to rise steeply. At the same time, progress has slowed in

recent years in the better performing countries where investment in preventing and reducing

serious health loss from road traffic injury is not commensurate with its high socio-economic

cost. The ESCAP secretariat estimates 700,000 people were killed and between 20-30 million in

road accidents in ESCAP region in 2007.

As highlighted in the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, fatal and long term crash

injury is largely predictable, largely avoidable and a problem amenable to rational analysis and

remedy. Research and experience in North America, Australasia and Europe has shown that

very substantial reductions in road deaths and serious injuries have been achieved through the

application of evidence-based measures against the background of increased motorization.

This paper tries to present the experiences in developing policies and implementing the road

safety management in Nepal and recommends for road safety management in Asian Highway

segments in Nepal

b.Modes of Transport

Nepals transport sector accounts for a large part of domestic passenger and freight movements.

Air services contribute to passenger movements to key commercial and tourist destinations, and

to the transport of both passengers and goods into remote hill areas. Internationally, most freight

movements are across the land border with India, with internal distribution by road: limited

high-value goods are carried by air. The single operating railway system covers only 52 km

within the country. Waterways - River transport in Nepal is still at a primitive stage. Studies in

the past, in this regard show that the demand for initial investment is very high with very low

estimated economic return3.

1 Estimated based on 2001 population census2 Study report on 2004


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Therefore, Roads are the principal transport mode in Nepal, and this position is unlikely to

change in the foreseeable future.

2. National statistical trends in road accident

It is difficult to be accurate about the number of road accident as many accidents, includingones where people are injured, are not reported to the Police. Generally, only those accidents

with high injury or property damage or with disputes are reported and recorded in the police

office.

Road accidents are increasing in Nepal due to increased vehicle fleet and speed. This has

become a serious problem which killed more than 1734 peoples life and injury of more than

11000 people in year 2009/10. The estimated annual national loss from road accidents is more

than 9 million2. Considering the heavy loss of lives and wealth in road accidents the

concerned road and traffic management agencies have started to incorporate road safety issues

in their program but it seems inadequate as the losses of life and property from road accidents is

increasing. Trend of road accidents and losses of life and property is increasing in recent year.

However, the figures do not give the full accident picture. Experience shows that a fairly large

number of accidents are never reported to the police, mainly because the involved parties want

to settle the matter between them. This under-representation is assumed to be less pronounced

for severe accidents.

Table1: National statistical trends in road accident (2001-2010)

Serious Slight Injury/Year Accidents Fatalities

Injuries Injuries fatalratio

Fatalityper

10,000

Vehicles

200102 3,823 879 458 4,138 5.23 66.2

200203 3,864 682 785 4,442 7.66 48.38

200304 5,430 802 1,659 3,925 6.96 52.04

200405 5,532 808 1,795 4,039 7.22 49.42

200506 3,894 825 1,866 3,655 6.69 47.64

200607 4,546 953 2,583 5,331 8.30 50.17

200708

6,821

1,131

2,663

5,245

6.99

54.9

200809 8353 1356 3609 6457 7.42 60.21

200910 11747 1734 4130 7383 6.64 67.13

Sum 54,010 9,170 19,548 44,615 7.00

Source: Nepal Police, Traffic Directorate

a. Total number of road fatalities in past decade was going decreasing in 2002, 2003 2004

and 2005 in comparison with base year 2001 but it became increasing since 2006 and

seems very much threatening in 2009.

b. The number of death of passengers and pedestrians per 10000 vehicles is also increasing

steeply since 2006.


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Figure: 1- Trend of Accident, Minor Injury, Serious Injury and Fatality

Figure :2- Number of road accidents 2001-2009


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Figure: 3- Number of total fatality in road accidents, 2001-2009

Figure: 4- Fatality per 10000 vehicles, 2001-2009

c. The disaggregated data for the death of motorcyclists could not be found however a

study on various road users and number of casualties in road accidents showed highest

number of road causalities is happening to pedestrians followed by motorcycle riders.

d.

Data shows that the death of children less than 5 years is also increasing in past 3 years.


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e. Since there is no dedicated lead agency for road safety in Nepal national data of Fleet

safety records of public/private sector organizations (death/100,000 kms) is not

achieved.

Figure: 5- Road Accidents and Vulnerable Road Users group

3. Current national Government policy for road safety

The National Transport Policy 2001 outlines the broad policies for the overall development of

both the infrastructures and services in the Country. Road safety is identified as one of the

objectives in developing the transport infrastructures and services under this Policy. However,

there is no elaboration on the various road safety requirements within the Policy. This document

also outlines a long-term strategy to create an autonomous Road Transport Authority by

merging the Department of Roads (DOR) and the DOTM as part of the institutional

strengthening measure.

To strengthen the road sub-sector institutionally a DOR Institutional Position Paper was drafted

in December 2006 by the Consultants under the Bank aided Road Maintenance & DevelopmentProject (RMDP)2. This document details the institutional arrangement that the DOR wishes to

evolve in Nepal over the coming decades. An important aspect of this document is the

conviction that all the stakeholders involved in managing the roads in Nepal should have

operational autonomy with clear lines responsibilities, communications between themselves and

accountability. This policy paper stressed on complementary reforms in other institutions apart

from the DOR, RBN or the proposed Nepal Road Authority in the distant horizon, for delivery

of service to the road-users. It is not clear if the DOR Institutional Position Paper 2006 has been

formally approved and gazetted. Moreover, the document focuses on the relation between the

2 Management of the Road Sub-sector in Nepal: Institutional Position Paper; GON/DOR RMDP Institutional

Strengthening Component (IDA Credit No. 3293- NEP); DHV Consultants (the Netherlands)-CMS-ITECO N JV:December 2006.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Road Users

NumberofCasualties

Minor 249 76 3 229 97 78 66 44 19

Serious 90 17 1 75 13 21 6 15 3

Fatal 42 4 0 19 2 3 4 4 3

P edest rian Bicy cle Rick sh aw Mo to rcy cle T e mp o Car/v an Min ibus Bus T ruck


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RBN and the Road Safety Council, which to a certain extent limits the independence of the

council.

a. There is no long-term strategy for road safety outlined for Nepal to date. The national or

regional targets on road safety in terms of social costs; final or intermediate outcomes;

improving at risk groups, etc. have not been formulated to date. However, DORinformed that Nepal was a signatory to the recent UNESCAP Meeting in Busan,

Republic of Korea, which required all the signatories to pledge a 35 percent reduction in

both the number and casualties of RTAs within their respective countries. The DOR

RTU therefore proposes to include such reduction in the Safety Action Plan.

a. It has been mentioned in DoR Vision statement that- Substantial Reduction in Accident

Rate and in Mission statement- "To Contribute towards the Betterment of Living

Conditions of the People through Effective, Efficient, Safe and Reliable Road

Connectivity".

b. It was recommended in Road safety stake holders meeting in November 25, 2009 as

objective for road safety Saving 4000 lives and reducing significant numbers of serious

injuries on the Nepalese roads during 2010- 2017 but the specific targets are yet to be

defined.

National Transport Policy, 2002 in its policy no.9 says The construction,improvement and management of the means of transport shall be done in harmony withthe traffic safety and environmental effect.

c. National road safety awareness campaigns and training programs regarding road safetyare being conducted in collaboration of DoR, Traffic Police, Schools and Local

Authorities.d. There is no designated national lead agency for road safety in Nepal till date but Road

Traffic Unit of DoR, DoTM, and Traffic police are performing the job of road safetymanagement within the nation.

Specific training courses to the police personnel on traffic signs, driving,accident management and analysis, and enforcement were conducted by DoR throughspecialists under RTU. Training manuals were developed with intention that the trained

persons would be able to train others - i.e. cascade training. Because of frequent transferof police personnel a regular training activity is needed in the TPO.

To strengthen the existing traffic management law and to make the trafficlegislation to be more effective for enforcement, necessary amendments specifyingspeed limits and traffic signs were amended by the DoTM.

e. Present resource allocation to road safety is inadequate. All stake holders arecomplaining for lack of resources to address the road safety issues and programs in theirrespective organizations.

f. There are no comprehensive National road safety reports or impact evaluation reports ofGovernment programs published in Nepal. Traffic Directorate of Nepal police onlykeeps the accident reports and provides if demanded.

g. There is no private sectors involvement in funding to road safety initiatives exceptinvolvement of private schools and some NGOs in road safety campaigns.

It has already became very late in case of Nepal to manage for achieving 8 goals within 2007-2015 declared in ESCAPMinisterial Conference on Transport.


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4. National road safety indicators

a.

Road usersi. There is law on seat-belt wearing in the country and Traffic police

monitors and enforces its compliances.ii. Motorcycle day time head light is not mandatory.

iii. Use of motorcycle helmets to the rider is mandatory but there is nostandard of helmets defined.

iv. Use of child seat restraints in cars and child helmets for motorcycle isnot mandatory hence not in use widely.

v. Road safety education in schools is made compulsory by introducingroad safety chapters in school level text books.

vi. Drinking and driving is prohibited by law and strong monitoring is

being made especially at night time.

b.Road design

i. Road network planning/ design

The National Road Network of the country is classified into two broad categories- 1. Strategic

Road Network (SRN) and, 2. Local Road Network (LRN). Depending upon importance, the

roads are further classified as National Highway, Feeder Roads, District Roads, and Urban

Roads.

The Department of Road (DoR), functioning under the Ministry of Physical Planning and

Works is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Strategic Road Network

(SRN). The SRNs are the main national arteries, which provide inter-regional connections and

links to district headquarters, international borders, key economic centers and the major urban

roads.

SRN is the backbone of the National Road Network. Although the strategic roads constitute

about 40 percent of the National Road Network, it plays a very important role in terms of the

movement of men and materials. The strategic roads have high traffic volume in comparison todistrict roads. At present, the Strategic Road Network consists of 15 National Highways and 51

Feeder roads totaling 10835 km (as of year 2009/10).

The Local Road Network (LRN), comprising of district roads, village or agricultural roads and

nonstrategic urban roads, are being constructed and maintained by the local governments

(DDCs & municipalities) with the support from Department of Local Infrastructure

Development and Agriculture Roads ( DoLIDAR), functioning under the Ministry of Local

Development. Some 16000 km of LRN has already been constructed so far (as of 2008). These

roads were constructed to open up access to remote/rural areas as quickly as possible but

without giving due consideration to the operability and sustainability of roads thus constructed.


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The present road assets in the country are estimated at NRs. 85 billion (US $ 1.08 billion in

2001)3

Among the South Asian Countries Nepal has a very low road density, not only in terms of

serving the population but also in providing accessibility to various parts of the country. The

existing functioning National Road Network comprises 10835 km of SRN and, 9429 km fairweather LRN with a total length of 20264 km (DoR, SSRN 2009/10). Hence the road density

km per 100 sq. km is 13.77 and influenced population number per km is 1143 (population

Census 2001). The current lengths of SRN each pavement category of roads are summarized in

Table 1 and Existing and proposed SRN are shown in figure 1.

Table1:Length of Designated Strategic Road Network according to pavement type, 2010(km)

Bituminous Graveled Earthen TotalUnder

Construction

Planned

4952(46%) 2065(19%) 3817(35%) 10835(100%) 769 2509

Source: DoRDatabasedevelopedforHDM

Figure: 6- Existing and proposed SRN


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The National Highway from East to West, namely East-West Highway, or Mahendra Rajmarga

(MRM) 1027.6 km, is part of Asian Highway 2. Another National Highway connecting Birgunj

to Kodari, 402.4 km (out of this Pathalaiya- Narayanghat section 105 km is overlapped with AH

02) is part of Asian Highway 42, which joins the Indian border at South to the Chinese border at

North.

The development of National road network has about four-fold increase in the total road length

over the past 25 years from around 5925 km in 1985 to 20236 km in 2010 an annual increase of

around 6 percent. Table 2 shows the development of road network during last 25 years.

Table3: Growth in the Overall Road Network, 1975-2007 (km)

Highways FeederRoads UrbanRoads DistrictRoads Total

1985 1,960 1,875 866 1,224 5,925

1990 2,111 1,822 1,098 2,299 7,330

1994 2,734 1,520 1,339 3,941 9,534

1998 2,905 1,835 1,868 6,615 13,223

2002 3,029 1,832 2,198 9,775 16,834

2004 3,339 4,196 2,260 7,486 17,281

2006/07 4,198 5,201 2,260 7,223 18,828

2009/10 4718 6117 2473 6956 20264

Note:*2009/10dataincludetheredesignationofsomeDistrictRoadsaspartofSRN(NH&FR)

Source:DoRRoadStatistics,2009/10

ii. Road Safety Audit

Road safety audit was introduced in 1995 with the following key principles;

Design of road for all road users,

Provide a clear and consistent message to the driver and other road users,

Encourage appropriate speeds and behavior through design and traffic signs,

Reduce conflicting points in the road junctions and intersections,

Make allowance in design for the bad or impaired driving, Create a forgiving road,

Road safety audit was considered to be a compulsory activity for all roads under construction orrehabilitation. TESU, with the help from concerned project personnel, audited major strategicroads and about 1,200 km of National Highway. The road safety audit contributed very fruitfulsafety improvements, especially in road sections with higher rate of accidents. Based on theroad safety audit experiences, performance evaluation, and feedback from the field results adetailed Road Safety Audit Manual was published in April 1997.

Similarly, post construction road safety audit of 5 National Highways, which are the parts of

Asian Highways has been carried out by DOR in 2007.

Road safety audit at design stage has been made mandatory for new projects.


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iii. Hazardous locations improvement

The accident prone locations on various highways pointed out by the road safety audit andaccident data keeping are being improved by improving road geometry, installing road signs

and safety barriers. But there are various improvement works still to be carried out which arelagging behind because of lack of fund and institutional commitments.

Considering the number of road accidents in highway sections, the cluster of most vulnerabledistrict area in Nepal is shown in Figure 8. The top ten highest accident clusters are observed inKathmandu followed by Chitwan, Dhading, Lalitpur, Jhapa, Nawalparasi, Banke, Kailali, Dang,and Rupandehi districts.

iv. New safe crossing program

Sufficient safe crossings on highways could not be installed yet. Zebra crossings, traffic lights

and some over head crossing bridges are built and being used by the pedestrians in urban areas

especially in capital city Kathmandu.

v. Motorcycle lanes and bicycle and pedestrian lanes

There is no separate lane for motorcycles on any roads of the country except newly completed

Kathmandu Bhaktapur section Arniko Highway (A part of AH42). This section of Arniko

Highway which has recently been constructed by the assistance of Japanese government has 4

lanes for vehicles, 2 lanes for motorcycle separated by road paint and 2 service tracks.

Similarly there is no provision of separate bicycle lane in all types of roads. Pedestrian lanes are

not provisioned on highways, feeder roads and district roads but raised footpaths are provided in

all types of urban sections of all types of roads.

vi. National or local programs to make roads forgiving by

removing or cushioning roadside obstacles

Department of Roads is implementing planned maintenance of the roads under its jurisdiction.

The DoR has been carrying out all types of maintenance activities on the road as well as roadside maintenance for removing or cushioning roadside obstacles. Activities for planting trees

along road side and trimming these in certain intervals are being carried out by DoR.

c. Vehicles

i. Statistics

First motorized vehicle entered Kathmandu Valley in year 1942. At present more than1,000,000 motorized vehicles are registered in the country with highest share of motor bikes(73%). Light vehicles (Cars/ Jeep/ Van/ Pick up) share the second highest with 12% whereas;

the public utility vehicles mainly Bus, Mini Bus and Micro Bus share only 3%. The goodstransport vehicles consist of 4% of the total vehicle population.


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Besides the motorized vehicles there are also considerable numbers of non-motorized vehiclesplying in the roads such as Cycle, Tricycle (Riksaw), Oxen carts etc. There is no specific recordfor numbers of non-motorized vehicles but are highly susceptible for cause of the road accidentsdue to no proper safety features.

The statistics and composition of different types of vehicle registered in the country is shown intable below.

Table:4- statistics and composition of different types of vehicle registered

YearBus/Mini bus/

Micro bus

Car /jeep/Van/Pickup

Crane/Dozer/Truck

Tractor Tempo Motorbike

others

Total

up to2000 14,507 54,963 21,309 21,072 6,702 150,185 3,715 272,453

2000/01 1,453 5,152 1,271 3,519 232 29,291 77 313,448

2001/02 1,163 4,374 1,798 3,189 248 38,522 86 362,828

2002/03 962 3,487 1,212 2,485 17 29,404 43 400,438

2003/04 1,853 7,557 1,477 2,191 16 26,547 58 440,137

2004/05 1,622 4,781 1,592 1,374 48 31,093 21 480,668

2005/06 2,257 5,150 2,263 635 60 45,410 - 536,443

2006/07 2,508 5,892 3,278 2,942 12 72,568 1,536 625,179

2007/08 2,629 6,329 3,594 3,297 18 69,666 205 710,917

2008/09 2,564 8,144 3,643 4,663 20 83,334 202 813,487

2009/10 2,810 14,243 4,524 11,460 9 168,707 31 1,015,271

Total 34,328 120,072 45,961 56,827 7,382 744,727 5,974 1,015,271


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Figure: 6- Trend of growth in vehicle fleet

Figure: 7- Vehicle population and composition as of 2010

ii. Technical safety requirements for new vehicles

To manage the vehicles plying in roads and public transportation, the first Vehicle Act was

enacted in 1964 followed by Transportation Management Act, 1970. Later, a combined Vehicle

and Transportation Management Act, 1993 (VTMA) and VTM Regulations, 1998 replaced

them. Besides VTMA, the Public Road Act, 1975; Local Self-Governance Act, 1999; and Road

Board Act, 2002, also considers some part of road safety consideration such as implementation

and management of traffic flow, vehicle axle load, and right of way.


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Technical and safety requirements for all types of vehicles have been provisioned in VTMA and

VTMR. Some provisions regarding vehicle standard and safety in VTMR 1998 are:

Standard dimension of the public vehicles

Number of seats, height, width and folding provisions

Fire extinguisher and emergency doors in public vehicles

Insurance provision and First aid kits

Lock in good condition on doors and windows

Shock observer in good condition

Speed limit

Axle load limit

Driver change and refreshment provision in long route driving

iii. Frequency of periodic inspection of vehicles

Initial and periodic inspections of vehicles are provisioned in VTMR 1998 as follows;

Bus- 5 years driving permission after initial inspection then additional 3 years

permission if meets the requirement in yearly periodic inspections.

Mini bus- 8 years driving permission after initial inspection then additional 7 years


Micro Bus- 5 years driving permission after initial inspection then additional 3 years


d.Road safety data base

Road safety data base system in Nepal is very poor. The local traffic police keep the accidentdata and send it to the traffic directorate at central level. In case of fatal and serious injuryaccidents, the data can be verified by the hospitals but in case of light injury it could not beverified from the hospitals. Generally DoR through its division offices keeps the locations ofaccidents. Because of absence of dedicated lead agency for road safety accident data basesystem is poor in the country.

Considering a proper accident database system to be backbone of road safety engineering,collection road accident information started in July 1995 with help of Traffic Police Office(TPO). Initially it covered Kathmandu Valley and Naubise - Mugling section of the PrithviHighway (part of AH 42 with high accident rate). DoR helped the TPO to design their ownsimple Road Accident Data System for nationwide accident database, which basically providesaccident statistics but do not provide the necessary detailed information for accident analysis.

e. Emergency response system


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i. Extent of geographical coverage

There is no exact division of geographical coverage for accident rescue activity. Generally thelocal traffic police and highway police provides rescue service to the event of accident. Butlocal people and army man also carry out the rescue service.

ii. Average response time

Average response time for the accidents in Nepal depends upon the proximity of police postfrom the accident site. Generally it is 15 to 30 minutes in plane sections of highways and feederroads and 30 minutes to one hour for hill and district roads. Urban accidents could be respondedimmediately.

f. Alcohol and drugs test

i. Type of test and when/how administered

Drinking and driving is prohibited by law in Nepal observation test and/ or breathalyzer testsare being applied to check drinking and driving. Traffic police conducts this tests randomlyespecially in evening and night time.

ii. Is it part of road safety legislation?

Drinking and driving and using drug and driving is prohibited by law. VTMA 1993 clause 164prohibits drinking and driving. Non conformance of this provision will result cash fine tocessation of the driving license or route permit.

g.

Speed limit and complianceSpeed limit provision has been provisioned in vehicle management act and regulation in Nepal.In VTMR, 1998 following speed limit provision has been specified:

Bus, Mini Bus, Truck- 50 KMPH for hill roads and 70 KMPH for plane

Car, jeep Van Pick up- 80 KMPH

Tempo, Tractor scooter- 40 KMPH

Motorbike- 50 KMPH

But the Maximum speed is limited to 40 KMPH for all kinds of vehicle in settlement area and

DoTM can revise the limit of speed considering the condition of road and vehicle. Similarly thedriver of a public vehicle has his duty to follow the time table to reach the destination asmentioned in rout permit for the convenience of passengers.

Even though speed limit provisions are legally binding in Nepal but the compliance of theseprovisions are rarely found in practice.

5. Asian Highway road safety status and trends

The Asian Highway network is a network of 141,000 kilometers of standardized roadwayscrisscrossing 32 Asian countries with linkages to Europe.

Nepal is connected by two Asian Highways. They are Asian Highway 2 (AH2) and AsianHighway 42 (AH42). The total length of these two sector within the country is 1324 km. AH2originates from Dhaka in Bangladesh and ends in New Delhi in India. It can be further linked


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with other Asian Highway Network. Similarly, AH42 originates from Barhi in India and ends inLhasa in China. It is further linked to India by AH1 and China by AH5.

a. Road safety actions specially targeting the Asian Highway or

trunk roads in general

To preserve road asset and to reduce the road users cost, rehabilitation and maintenanceprogram were implemented by the DoR in the strategic roads. Improved road condition inducedsudden increase in vehicle fleet and speed, resulting increase in road accidents and casualties.

Considering increasing road accidents in strategic roads a Road Safety Review was undertakenby DoR in 1992. Review of road accident and traffic safety measures that applied in the variouscompleted roads and ongoing road projects were carried out. Based on available road data, aRoad Safety Strategy, 1994, was prepared which aimed to reduce road accidents in Nepal byintroducing a coordinated multi sectoral program of road safety actions.

DoR, in its policy of 1995, envisaged its duty to provide safety for all road users including

pedestrians and took initiatives for carrying out the necessary road safety activities in closecoordination with the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) and Traffic Police Office(TPO). DoR set up a separate Traffic Engineering and Safety Unit (TESU) to deal the roadsafety engineering aspects and necessary coordination with other agencies.

i. Planned Maintenance by DoR

As the condition of road pavement and road side structures are also cause of road accidents, tosome extent, the DoR also started implementing the planned maintenance consisting of routine,recurrent, and periodic works. Periodic resealing of road surface by using Single Bituminous

Surface Treatment (SBST) has been proved as the proper technique of improvement in skidresistance. A separate Highway Management Information Unit (HMIU) was established formaintaining road database on condition, road roughness, and traffic data for the purpose ofimplementing the road maintenance works, effectively. Planned maintenance has resulted inmore than 90% of strategic roads in good to fair condition.

ii. Road Safety Engineering by DoR

On the basis of road accident studies, the DOR implemented various road safety treatmentmeasures in unsafe bends and approaches of bridges in Naubise to Mugling section of PrithviHighway. Ten important intersections in Kathmandu valley, with high accident rate, wereimproved with assistance from Japan. Performance evaluation of such treatment and junctionimprovement works showed a success of up to 80% reduction in accidents and over 1000%Rate of Return for the First Year.

Besides applying the conventional methods for road safety measures, the DOR also tookinitiatives to test locally available materials and technology to make the road safety works moreaffordable, cost-effective, and sustainable. Use of flexible gabion safety barrier instead of steelguard rail or concrete barrier is one of such example. Flexible gabion safety barrier of at least 8m length, 1 m height and width has been found to be highly successful for hill roads and bridgeapproaches, and favorably reviewed by journals such as Appropriate Technology.

On the basis of experiences acquired from the road accident studies and practicalimplementation in various sections of strategic roads, the DOR published a number of roadsafety related notes (Annex -1). These road safety notes were extensively used to promote roadsafety engineering among Engineers of DOR and Consultants. Existing highway design


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standards were also reviewed and safety issues were revised for roadside drainage, bridgeapproach, roadside delineators, road markings etc.

iii.Standardization of Traffic Signs and Road Markings

For standardization of traffic sign and road marking system, a Manual for Road Traffic Signswas prepared and approved in 1997. The Manual is in line with the international practices thatset out in International Convention on Road Traffic, Geneva and Road Signs and Signals,Vienna. Besides, full-color posters illustrating the traffic signs were also prepared for roadsafety education purpose.

b.Road safety related grants or loans from international sources.

The international donors are involving and assisting Nepals road safety related activities for along time. Following are some examples among many:

Road safety audit was initiated in Nepal with the assistance of DFID/UK

Government of Japan through its grant assistance improved ten important intersectionsin Kathmandu.

The World Bank (WB) through has been assisting Nepals road safety initiatives throughits various projects and TA in those projects.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also been assisting in road safety sectorthrough various road upgrading projects and TAs.

The Swiss government had assisted in SMD.

Many other countries like India, China, Japan, Switzerland, UK and USA are thepartners of Nepal in improving road safety situation at present.

UNESCAP conducted stakeholders meeting in Kathmandu regarding road safety inNovember 25, 2009.

c. Trends in road safety on the Asian highway

(Fatalities/accidents on Asian Highway sections)

Bus, carrying passengers in long routes accidents are a major problem on highways as they

account for mass killing or seriously injured. In most of the road accidents on highways poorroad user behavior such as bad driving, drinking and driving, parking at road side, carelesscrossing by pedestrian are the main factors. Accidents are found to cluster at road intersectionsin urban area. In highways accident cluster are concentrated in near bridge approaches,intersections, and road side built-up area.

i. Road Accident Clusters on Asian Highway

Consideringthenumberofroadaccidentsinhighwaysections,theclusterofmostvulnerable

districtareainNepalisshowninFigure8.Thetoptenhighestaccidentclustersareobservedin


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Kathmandu followedbyChitwan,Dhading,Lalitpur, Jhapa,Nawalparasi,Banke,Kailali,Dang,

andRupandehidistricts.

Figure: 7:Road Accidents Cluster in Strategic Road Network

ii. Road Casualty Accidents and Vulnerable VehiclesThe highest percentage of road accidents per vehicle is passenger bus followed by car/jeep/vanand tempo truck/ tanker (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Road Accidents in Highways and Vulnerable Vehicles

6.

Areasof

improvements

Kathmandu, Chitawan,Dhading, Lalitpur, Jhapa,

Nawalparasi, Banke, Kailali,Dang, Rupandehi

AH 2

AH 2

AH 42

C H I N A

I N D I A

AH 42

Kathmandu


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There are many areas to be addressed and improved for better road safety. Some of them can belisted as:

Inadequate and narrow roads at urban and city areas,

Plenty of steep grades and sharp bends on highways,

Lack of lane separators as per necessity

Lagging behind the development and upgrading of roads as compared with urbanization

High pressure of traffic on peak hours and mixed traffic

Lack of essential infrastructures e.g. flyovers and subways, bypass, parking space andlay byes, traffic lights etc,

Poor vehicle conditions,

Inadequate legal provisions and their enforcement,

Lack of sufficient knowledge on traffic rules,

Insufficient coordination among the agencies responsible for road safety issues,

Lack of sufficient fund for improving road safety conditions

7. Suggestionsformanagingroadsafety

Skilled human resource, proper plan and working modality, availability of necessary fund,adequate legal provision and its enforcement, awareness in all road users and proper

coordination are the essentials of road safety management.

FormationofNationalRoadSafetyPlan(NRSP)andNationalRoadSafetyCommittee

(NRSC)asaleadagencyforroadsafety

Considering the continued growth in urban population, motorized traffic, and various categoriesof road length, increasing road accident and casualties is becoming a growing challenge to thenation. As various agencies are involving to perform the tasks related with road safety, vehicleand transport management, it has created confusion as well as wasted resources in duplicationefforts.

To plan nationwide road safety program and to coordinate the road safety issue, effectively, aNational Road Safety Plan (NRSP) and a high-level National Road Safety Committee (NRSC)

is necessary which may have the following objectives:

to make everyone more aware of the increasing road safety problem,to set common targets for accident reduction by providing focus for road safety efforts,to set common goal and strategies for everyone to work towards road safety,to define clearly the authorities and responsibilities for all stakeholders related to road

safety issues and avoid duplication efforts.

ANNEX-1

Publication of Road Safety Related Notes and Documents from DOR;


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1.Strengthening Roadside Development Control, June 1995

2.Traffic Signs Manual Volume 1 and 2, April 1996

3.Vehicle Fitness Testing in the Kingdom of Nepal, October 1996

4.Bus Accidents in the Kingdom of Nepal Attitude and Causes, October 1996

5.Designing Safer Side-Drains, November 1996

6.Road Safety Publicity Campaigns A Practical Handbook for Nepal, January 1997

7.Road Accident Costs, June 1997

8.Road Safety Audit Manual, April 1997

9.Delineation Measures, March 1997

10.Safety Barrier, July 1997

11.Safety at Bridges, July 1997

12.Identifying and Treating Accident Sites, June 1997

13.Road Users Guide, June 1998

14.Set of 10 posters for schools, March 2002

15.Set of 3 posters for drivers, June 2003

16.Set of 2 booklets on traffic signals for the road users, June 2003