Identification of traffic accident risk-prone areas under low-light conditions

• Main Authors: K. Ivan, I. Haidu, J. Benedek, S. M. Ciobanu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2015-09-01
• Series: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/15/2059/2015/nhess-15-2059-2015.pdf

Besides other non-behavioural factors, low-light conditions significantly influence the frequency of traffic accidents in an urban environment. This paper intends to identify the impact of low-light conditions on traffic accidents in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The dependence degree between light and the number of traffic accidents was analysed using the Pearson correlation, and the relation between the spatial distribution of traffic accidents and the light conditions was determined by the frequency ratio model. The vulnerable areas within the city were identified based on the calculation of the injury rate for the 0.5 km² areas uniformly distributed within the study area. The results show a strong linear correlation between the low-light conditions and the number of traffic accidents in terms of three seasonal variations and a high probability of traffic accident occurrence under the above-mentioned conditions at the city entrances/exits, which represent vulnerable areas within the study area. Knowing the linear dependence and the spatial relation between the low light and the number of traffic accidents, as well as the consequences induced by their occurrence, enabled us to identify the areas of high traffic accident risk in Cluj-Napoca.