Analysis and Evaluation of Traffic Accidents for Principle Urban Streets in Arbil City in Iraq

Abstract

Traffic accidents are considered one of the most important problems in modern societies. Arbil city in Iraq suffers from this problem; it is considered the second major cause of death.The main objectives of this study are to analyze and evaluate the causes of traffic accidents by using the statistical analysis technique, and self-observation study. In this study Traffic accident data, Geometric condition data ,and Traffic condition data, related to the Arbil streets network was collected, prepared and analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. High Accident Locations (HAL) on the street network were identified by using various techniques. Self-observation on all selected streets that had (HAL) was summarized. Different predictive statistical models were developed for the streets in Arbil urban area. The Accident prediction models can be used to predict the probability of an accident at a certain location based on different variables. The statistical analysis of the study concluded that some of the geometric and traffic conditions are much related to traffic accident. It was concluded from this study that the increasing number of segments in principle urban streets will increase the number of total accidents and the number of property damages. Also, it was found that Pedestrian crossing areas ignored by pedestrians and the drivers do not give priority to pedestrians for crossing the street, due to lack of traffic awareness by drivers and pedestrians. The study recommends that Roads should be designed and constructed according to international standards. Also, it is recommended to improve traffic awareness of road users: drivers, pedestrians, and passengers through organized educational awareness programs.