SPECIAL FEATURE
INGENIEUR
Application of ICT in Road
and Transportation Safety
By Hizal Hanis Hashim, Ir. Mohd Rasid Osman
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research
Application of ICT in transportation under the Intelligent Transportation
System focuses on reduction in the level of congestion, improved road
safety, increased mobility and energy efficiency. In the area of crash
data analysis, the MIROS Road Accident Analysis and Database System
encompasses on-site data entry and desktop data analysis. An App has
been developed for convenient data entry and data collection using tablets
or smart-phones commonly available in the market.
O
ne of the global issues faced by the world today concerns road
safety. A total of 1.24 million people were killed on the world’s
roads in year 2010, while road crash related injuries take an
enormous toll on individuals and communities as well as on national
economies (WHO, 2013). Road traffic injuries are the eighth leading
cause of death globally, and the leading cause of death for young
people aged 15-29 years old. As the issue emerges, researchers
and road safety professionals are looking at various aspects that
could help to address and solve this issue. Often, the areas of road
user behavioural change, vehicle safety and road engineering are
commonly looked into when addressing this issue.
However, as this issue is becoming more prominent, more
countries have started to adopt the application of ICT to manage
their transportation system and their approach to improved
safety. Application of ICT in transportation is often referred to as
the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). ITS provides services
using modern computing and communications technologies. The
application of ITS mainly focuses on four main objectives, which are
reduction in the level of congestion, improved road safety, increased
mobility and energy efficiency (ITS Asia-Pacific, 2013). Based on these
objectives, development of ICT products and their application has
grown significantly with the introduction of various new technologies.
ITS USAGE
In Malaysia, ITS usage is still fairly limited, especially for the
purpose of road safety. ITS was first introduced in Malaysia in mid-
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VOL 58 APRIL 2013 2014
VOL 55 JUNE – JUNE