Identifying the Indicators of Accident-prone Areas of Haraz Road in Mazandaran Province

Background and

Traffic accidents are one of the main challenges in the field of road transportation and safety. Various factors such as the condition of the road, human factors, vehicles and the surrounding environment play an important role in the occurrence of the accidents. Modifying or removing accident-prone points has a significant effect on improving the level of safety and reducing road accidents. These changes can minimize damages and losses caused by accidents. The purpose of this research is to identify the indicators of accident-prone areas of Haraz road in Mazandaran province based on the mental patterns of heavy vehicle drivers.

This research is applied in terms of objective, descriptive method and in terms of data collection and analysis; it is mixed (qualitative-quantitative). Data collection tool is structured interview and Q table. In the qualitative part, by conducting a structured interview with 30 drivers of heavy vehicles (people according to previous records) and analyzing them by thematic method, different opinions were extracted regarding urban accidents (70 statements and 30 items).

Based on the obtained results, six mental models have been presented to determine the indicators of accident-prone points based on the perspective of heavy vehicle drivers.

The result of this research showed that the expressions of sudden reduction in road width, sharp and steep turns with reduced visibility and limited one were the most important factors from the heavy vehicle drivers’ perspective.