The Second Annual Ethiopian Road Safety Conference (RSC2018) took place at the ECA Conference Centre on 23–24 August 2018 under the themes: “Together, We Can Save Lives on Ethiopian Roads!” and “Safer Roads for Sustainable Economic Development”. Organised jointly by Lucy Consulting Engineers PLC and Jimma University, the two-day conference brought together participants from higher learning institutions, government and private organizations. Its goal was to serve as a venue for different stakeholders to share experiences and coordinate their effort to improve road safety in Ethiopia.
The meeting noted that Ethiopia is one of the countries in Africa highly affected by road traffic accidents. People in their thousands, lose their lives or are seriously injured on Ethiopian roads every year. Property losses and related damages are staggering. It is even more worrying that with fast road network expansion, development of industrial zones and economic growth, there is a high probability that the problem will worsen unless concerted actions are taken quickly.
It is against this background that participants attending the conference presented different papers for discussion in five technical sessions. Topics included, among others:
- Spatial and Statistical Analysis to Study Crash Location and Crash Severity in Addis Ababa
- Assessment on the Impacts of Geometric Design on Road Safety
- Evaluation of the Performance and Cost of Pavement Marking Materials
- Synchronization of Fixed Time Traffic Signals
- Traffic Safety Evaluation on Urban Road Intersections
- Impacts of Street Vendors on Pedestrians and Vehicles
- Studying the Extent of Traffic Accidents, Causes, Consequences and Possible Countermeasures
Speakers also raised the importance of promoting Road Safety through education, training and use of technology. The need for a better law enforcement capacity is also another area that needs more attention, they said.
The conference concluded by underlining that given the magnitude of the problem, successive similar meetings should be held in the coming years. Stakeholders should combine their knowledge and resources in identifying the causes of the problem and come up with tangible solutions. It was announced that the 3rd edition of the conference will be held at the same time next year, during the month of August 2019.