The Effect of Pavement Condition on Traffic Safety: A Case Study of Some Federal Roads in Bauchi State

The cost of highway accidents in terms loss of lives, injuries and road closures is a major strain on the Nigerian economy. It has therefore become pertinent to explore the causes of such accidents from a road condition perspective with a view to limiting their frequency and degree of severity. Three federal roads in Bauchi State were considered for this study; Bauchi -Jos, Bauchi -Gombe and Bauchi -Yobe Border, respectively. The pavement condition data indicated that Bauchi -Jos rouate has the highest Road Condition Score (RCS) while Bauchi -Gombe route has the lowest RCS. The Jos route also accounted for the highest number of accidents and fatalities despite having the best pavement condition, while the Yobe route accounted for the least number of accidents and fatalities. The results support the general view that there is no strong correlation between pavement condition and traffic safety, however some design and planning issues like the degree of curvature of horizontal and vertical curves and number of towns/villages on the routes seem to play an important role in traffic safety.