Abstract
The study aims to develop simplified rational criteria for identification of accident blackspots along the National Highways, so that the practitioners can quickly identify the blackspots and intervene. A statistical approach has been used to identify the rational criteria, i.e., the threshold value of each of the different crash parameters were identified, above which a location will be treated as a blackspot. The analysis is based on past 3-years’ crash data of NH of West Bengal, India. The identified blackspots have been compared with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Govt. of India guidelines and it is found that the number of blackspots by MoRTH guidelines is grossly over-estimated. Finally, the blackspots have been prioritized based on its severity as observed from the analysis. This will help the practitioners prioritize the blackspot locations while planning the countermeasures. Although the work has been demonstrated based on crash data of West Bengal, the technique can be adopted by other researchers or practitioners to determine the simplified rational criteria for other regions as well.
