Assessing the Safety of Auto-Rickshaws Used as Public Transport in Ghana

Abstract

Auto-rickshaws serve as one of the public transport modes for many Ghanaians. However, there is growing concern regarding their safety when used for commercial transport. Therefore, this study assessed the safety of Auto-rickshaw used for commercial public transport in Ghana through Delphi and safety matrix techniques. The study focused on major safety factors such as operational, active, passive and operational safety perspectives, as well as accident, injury, and death prevention. Data was collected through questionnaire surveys to assess the identified safety factors, which were quantitatively evaluated in terms of their occurrence likelihood and consequence safety index. This study extends safety analysis from vehicle safety standards (VSS) to assess the operational safety of Auto-rickshaw. First, a Delphi survey and safety matrix approach were used to identify the major safety factors. Further endurance behaviour of Auto-Rickshaw was examined using commercial code ANSYS 19.2 workbench. Findings indicate that installation and usage of seatbelts in Auto-rickshaw are the most convenient and adaptable safety features perceived to protect occupants from injuries and death. Simulation results further showed that Auto-rickshaw with seatbelts offer 80.3% protection to occupants, compared with Auto-rickshaw without seatbelts, which offer 58.6% protection. Efforts must be made to enact and enforce policies that ensure seatbelts are incorporated into commercial auto-rickshaws.