Análise da ocorrência de acidentes de trânsito envolvendo pedestres na cidade de Cachoeira do Sul

Abstract

Road crashes have affected the lives of thousands of people around the world, becoming a public health problem. In development countries, such as Brazil, the road safety problems are even worse. Pedestrians are the mostly affected, as they are vulnerable users constantly associated with fatal crashes' victims. In addition, in small cities usually face more difficult to implement plans that focus on improving pedestrian infrastructure. Thus, this study aims to identify hotspots needing interventions to improve pedestrian safety in Cachoeira do Sul-RS/Brazil, a small city. A database of road crashes and road environment characteristics was explored using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis techniques with geospatial tools to analyze pedestrian crashes. As a result, the factors contributing to road crashes were related to the components of the traffic system. The pedestrian’s crashes profile was incorporated in the analysis of the hotspots identifying groups of road crashes according to segments with road-environmental characteristics in relation to the risks of pedestrian injury. Additionally, interventions were suggested aimed to improve road safety. These results may serve as the basis for public policies to propose measures in order to save lives in traffic.