Impacts of roadway lighting on traffic crashes and safety in Jordan.

Traffic crashes are one of the most severe problems that affect communities worldwide. Despite that only 25% of all motor vehicle miles occur at night, about 50% of all traffic fatalities occur during night. In Jordan, traffic crashes were responsible for 4.5% of fatalities in 2007 and ranked as the third cause of death in 2010. The effect of lighting on crash reduction was evaluated in many countries around the world but none of these was in Jordan. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of roadway lighting on night-time crash reduction in Jordan before and after continuous lighting system installation. Crash data collected from the Jordanian Central Traffic Department were analysed statistically. Several variables were considered, out of them, five were statistically significant: Crash year, road surface, whether the crash occurred during the day or the night, number of vehicles involved and lighting condition. Results confirmed that lighting reduces expected crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]