Spatial analysis of traffic accidents that involve young drivers in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Every year, traffic accidents are increasing worldwide. Particularly, in Chile, between 2010 and 2019, the increase of traffic accidents was 55.8%, in contrast to the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations. The objective of this study is to identify the critical areas of occurrence of road accidents and their attributes involving young drivers, both men and women, in the commune of Santiago, Chile. In addition, this study seeks to determine whether there are spatial patterns of these road accidents in the identified critical zones. First, a Kernel density estimation analysis was performed to identify areas with a high concentration of traffic accidents involving young drivers. Subsequently, a global spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted using Moran’s I index in the most critical areas identified in the previous analysis. The results of this study divulge three important zones with high concentration of road accidents involving young male and female drivers in the commune of Santiago. In addition, road accidents involving male drivers present a higher concentration than those involving female drivers, both for their occurrence and their attributes. Finally, the spatial autocorrelation analysis does not reveal any spatial pattern at the global level. These results may help authorities in the decision making process to implement mitigation measures for reducing the occurrence of road accidents, particularly in the most critical areas.