Evaluation of Rural Road Traffic Safety in Loess Plateau Gully Area of China

In order to solve the safety ambiguity problems in the construction and use of rural roads in the gully area of the Loess Plateau, this paper proposes a safety assessment method based on the normal cloud model (NCM). First, a safety assessment index system is constructed by combining the key features of road traffic safety, and the weight coefficients of each index are determined by the entropy weight method (EWM) to set the assessment criteria. Then, the cloud eigenvalue of each indicator is calculated by using the normal cloud model to clarify the degree of its affiliation to different safety levels, which fully reflects the randomness and ambiguity in the assessment process. Finally, this paper selects a typical rural road in the gully area of the Loess Plateau for example analysis. The results show that the assessment method not only reduces the subjective influence of the evaluation criteria, effectively solves the problem of indicator ambiguity, and provides a reliable scientific basis for improving road safety, but also provides lessons and references for the improvement of transportation safety in other similar areas; improves the safety and security capacity and service level of regional roads; meets the needs of the rural masses for safe and comfortable travel; enhances the people’s sense of well-being, accessibility, and sense of security; boosts rural development; and better promotes the optimization of regional and even nationwide transportation services and service quality.