Introducing Road Safety Audits in Kuwait: Kabd Road case study

An In-Service Road Safety Audit (RSA) project was commissioned by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) in Kuwait, which would be the first RSA to be completed in Kuwait. The project was intended to serve as a demonstration project, highlighting the concept and process of a road safety audit, in an attempt to illustrate the benefits of RSAs and how RSAs may improve the overall level of safety for the road users in Kuwait. For Kuwait’s inaugural RSA Project, a roadway known as Kabd Road was selected. The roadway, which is perceived to be very dangerous and often referred to as the ‘Death Road,’ is located south of the metropolitan area of the City of Kuwait. Kabd Road was considered to be an excellent project to demonstrate the RSA concept since the roadway has some design features that adversely impact the safety performance. In addition, the road appeared to be poorly maintained at some locations, which also created some significant safety hazards for motorists using the roadway. Poor driver behavior of the motorists using Kabd Road would also a contributing factor to the dangerous conditions that exist on the roadway. This paper describes the demonstration project, including the process that was followed to implement an RSA in a region where RSA did not previously occur. The paper also provides some of the findings from the RSA.