The effect of automated speed cameras on fatal traffic collisions in the State of Kuwait

Improvements to highway safety are a high priority for highway authorities due to the social and economic costs of traffic collisions. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was to examine the effect of automated speed cameras (ASCs) as measured in fatal traffic collision frequencies using data from Kuwait. This thesis also established traffic safety benchmarks for Kuwait to improve the practice of analyzing safety trends and identifying locations with high fatal collisions. A database of fatal collisions was created, and qualitative spatial analysis was performed using GIS software. Collision prediction models were developed and the results of the statistical analysis showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between fatal traffic collisions and ASCs in one of three influence ranges studied. The model showed an increase in fatal collision frequency with the presence of ASC, which might suggest among other possible explanations, that the ASCs in Kuwait have been correctly installed at locations with high collision frequencies.