Investigation of traffic accidents ın the city center of Şanlıurfa by using GIS

Abstract

The loss of life and material caused by traffic accidents all over the world is an important problem. Research and studies conducted for the solution of the problem affecting the society reveal the results of urban planning, increasing and improving the divided roads, the use of traffic signals, improving the awareness level of drivers, pedestrians, and passengers in traffic, and increasing the safety equipment of the vehicles. In recent years, the black spots of traffic accidents have been determined by interpreting the spatial analysis of the accidents with the use of GIS. Thus, it was possible to take preventive measures by identifying the points where accidents were concentrated. In this study, accident blackspots were determined using hot spot analysis of traffic accidents that occurred in 2019 in Eyyübiye, Haliliye, and Karaköprü districts of Şanlıurfa city center, and it was aimed to develop solutions to reduce accidents. In this direction, traffic accident reports for the year 2019 of Eyyübiye, Haliliye and Karaköprü districts, which are the central districts of the city of Şanlıurfa, were obtained from the General Directorate of Security to be used in the study. According to the findings obtained in the study, 1626 traffic accidents occurred at the study site in 2019. While most of these accidents occurred in October, the most common day was Thursday. The time zone between 16:00 and 17:59 during the day is the period with the highest accident density. Looking at the accident blackspots; Abide Junction, D-400 (east-west), E-99 (north-south) highways, and Bamyasuyu and Bahçelievler neighborhoods were seen as the areas where the black spots of the accident were concentrated. As a result of the study, it is understood that traffic accidents are concentrated in certain regions and a certain period. To reduce traffic accidents in Eyyübiye, Haliliye and Karaköprü districts, which are the central districts of the city of Şanlıurfa, measures should be taken to reduce accidents at these time intervals. However, increasing the traffic signaling systems on the roads in the regions where accidents are determined to be intense, maintenance and widening of the roads are very important in reducing the number of accident black spots.