Both the national and municipal governments are responsible for ensuring pedestrian safety, which is a fundamental human right. Louis Kusi Frimpong addresses the relationship between a lack of pedestrian infrastructure and health outcomes, as well as some pedestrian infrastructure required to improve pedestrian safety on African roads in this brief article.
Walking remains an important mode of transportation for the majority of Africans. Walking is a common way for people in many communities to interact and engage in daily social and economic activities. Many households use walking and other non-motorized modes of transportation, such as bicycling, to reduce transportation costs. People also combine walking and motorized modes of transportation to get to their destinations. For example, it is common to encounter people in African cities walking from their homes to bus stations or main roads to board public transport.
Despite the importance of walking for many African households, there has been little investment in pedestrian infrastructure. Motorized transportation infrastructure is always given priority, with little regard for road users. Roads without sidewalks are common in many African countries, as are poor road markings, congested roads with motorists, vendors, and pedestrians vying for space, and a lack of streetlights to improve pedestrian safety and security at night. This situation poses significant risks to pedestrians and frequently leads to protests by residents demanding better pedestrian infrastructure. Residents of Madina and Adenta in Accra, for example, demonstrated in 2020 over a lack of footbridges, which resulted in road fatalities and injuries on the main Madina-Adenta highway.
The Health of City Residents Is Affected by a Lack of Pedestrian Infrastructure
According to WHO research, pedestrians account for 40% of fatalities in vehicle accidents in Africa. Pedestrian road accidents are the leading cause of death and disability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Predictions indicate that there will be 514,000 pedestrian road fatalities in Africa by 2030, up from 243,000 in 2015. With this increase, the number of road deaths in the region will surpass that of malaria. Many pedestrian road accidents are caused by inadequate pedestrian facilities and poor road design. According to the International Road Assessment Programme, sidewalks and footbridges are present on less than 10% of the roads in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s George W. is a good example. Bush Highway, which was completed in 2012. Due to the lack of footbridges on this highway, pedestrians had no choice but to cross the highway to residential areas on either side. As a result, there was a significant number of pedestrian road accidents on this highway.
Aside from road fatalities, poor and insufficient pedestrian infrastructure frequently annoys road users, leading to a lack of desire to walk. As a result, it can reduce physical activity and increase the risk of diseases like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Indeed, in most developing countries, a lack of physical activity is a growing health concern. Many African countries are already struggling to combat common communicable diseases such as malaria, cholera, and diarrhoea. Furthermore, increased air pollution and concentrations of on-road particulate matter caused by dusty roads increase the risk of respiratory infections in pedestrians.
Why Do Poor Communities Bear the Brunt of Poor Pedestrian Infrastructure?
When it comes to poor pedestrian infrastructure, the most vulnerable members of society suffer the most, especially the health risk that it poses. In many African countries, poor people mostly walk to places where they work or earn a living. Indeed, the high cost of transportation deters many from boarding commercial transport. Thus, they are more likely to be involved in pedestrian road accidents.
Moreover, children from poor homes and communities walk to school on daily basis, making them vulnerable to pedestrian road accidents. Further, most poor residential communities in Africa have roads untarred which also exposes members of these communities to respiratory tract infections. According to a South African study, on-road vehicle particulate-matter emissions are mostly concentrated in low-income residential areas, where they contribute between 4 per cent and 16 per cent to ambient pollution and 9 per cent to 55 per cent to interior particulate concentrations.
When they are injured in vehicle accidents, the urban poor does not have easy access to medical care. On the one hand they are unable to pay for medical care since it is expensive and not covered by any comprehensive health insurance, on the other hand, the state of the health infrastructure and service delivery is rather poor. If people are physically disabled as a result of traffic accidents, there are often no welfare packages available for them. This frequently has a crippling effect on the family when they are the sole source of income.
Enhancing Pedestrian Safety Through Pedestrian-friendly Infrastructures
In most African cities, there is an urgent need to invest in pedestrian infrastructure due to the rising number of road incidents involving pedestrians. As a result, it will be necessary to upgrade the current road system and incorporate suitable pedestrian infrastructure into brand-new road projects. Based on their effectiveness in minimising pedestrian road accidents in nations in South America and Asia, three basic types of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure are recommended. These include:
- Pedestrian crossings: These are the places on the road where drivers must give pedestrians the right of way. This consists of a mix of pavement and road markings, signals, and road signage. It must also be emphasised that using pedestrian crossings necessitates some education on the part of both pedestrians and motorists, as they must be aware of the significance of the pavement markings, side-mounted signage, and road signs.
- Road calming measures: These are regulatory and engineering measures used to slow down motorists on specific sections of a road. Some road calming measures include speed limits either indicated as signage or painted on roads, speed rumps, speed cushions, road humps, and narrowing of roads within large or busy human settlements. For road calming measures to be effective, there is the need for education of motorists and enforcement.
- Pedestrian walking facilities: These include sidewalks and walkways, also known as ‘pedestrian lanes’. They are separated from the roadways and allow pedestrians to walk, ride bikes, and skate. Pedestrian safety can be improved through an expanded sidewalk, which is separated from the road by bollards. Other pedestrian walking facilities that are also needed are footbridges and streetlights
Walking or biking are significant parts of everyday life in most cities around the world. There are many possibilities to enhance the safety of pedestrians and in light of rising accidents and growing cities, it is time to react and make walking and biking safe for everybody.
Urbanet
