Research on Highway Safety Improvement Decisions in China

According to the traffic crash statistics in China, the number of crashes and deaths occurring in highway crashes rank the top in the world. Improvements to highway safety has become a high priority for Chinese government and road authorities due to increasing public awareness and concern for human lives and property losses caused by traffic crashes. However, satisfying this priority in an environment of limited resources and growing fiscal constraints is difficult. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the resources available for highway safety improvements are efficiently utilized. In this paper, the methods for identifying black spots are discussed, and diagnosis process of safety problems in the black spot is constructed as well as the development of selection methods and models for safety improvement projects and locations in order to guide the decision process of allocating resources for safety improvements. Furthermore, a case study is provided to illustrate their applications.