Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) Trends on Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Road after Addition of Lanes

Abstract

Road traffic accidents are the outcome of the factors associated with the traffic system namely road users, road environment and vehicles. Despite good road surface, the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road has high accident records. The traffic police record shows that 1530 accidents have occurred from July 2009 to June 2012. The area of study of this research is the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road which starts at Tinkune Kathmandu and ends at Suryabinayak with a length of 9.1 kilometer, a section of Araniko highway heading towards China. The road is the first ever six lane road constructed in Nepal. The objectives of this research work are to identify locations with high accident numbers, to investigate possible causes of accidents, and to propose countermeasures for traffic safety along the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road.