Skip to main content

Safety on the New Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Safety on the New Silk Graduates of the IRF Fellowship Program have contributed to a landmark study produced by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) aimed at minimising the socio-economic costs of road accidents in Kazakhstan. Asia’s infrastructure push offers opportunities to minimise road crashes, which cost many developing countries 2-5% of GDP each year. To help set priorities that address connectivity and safety, this study analysed 13,000km of highways, or 13.4% of the Kazakhstan
October 23, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Graduates of the 2462 IRF Fellowship Program have contributed to a landmark study produced by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) aimed at minimising the socio-economic costs of road accidents in Kazakhstan.

Asia’s infrastructure push offers opportunities to minimise road crashes, which cost many developing countries 2-5% of GDP each year. To help set priorities that address connectivity and safety, this study analysed 13,000km of highways, or 13.4% of the Kazakhstan highway network. Within this sample, most roads were undivided with two lanes and rated below "good" condition. Most crashes were found to be related to infrastructure deficiencies and non-compliance of the drivers to traffic rules and regulations. A series of maps identifies priority areas for improvement. Building on this analysis and a review of best practices, cost-effective infrastructure measures are recommended for improving connectivity and road safety.

Related Content

  • Safety barriers deliver valuable road user protection
    February 14, 2012
    Safety barriers provide an invaluable service for all road users, Mike Woof reports The safety barrier market is a key one for the highway sector, with systems providing valuable protection for all categories of road users. The importance of passive protective devices such as safety barriers can often be overlooked by the road user but is well-understood by highway designers. Redirecting an errant vehicle back into the roadway and preventing it from crossing into traffic flowing in the other direction or fr
  • Investing in East Africa's road sector to boost economic development
    April 14, 2020
    Investments in East Africa’s road sector are helping drive economic development as well as political stability
  • Nira and Univrses in Swedish road data project
    April 6, 2023
    NIRA Dynamics and Univrses are working on road surface conditions analysis using data from connected vehicles, RWIS, radar/satellite images and weather prognoses to provide a real-time picture of the road status.
  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra