SPATIAL ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS WITH PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES IN LAHORE

Abstract

Lahore is facing a serious road safety threat due to the increase in road accidents and pedestrians are significantly exposed to the risk of injuries and fatalities. This paper intends to explore the high-risk accident locations with most pedestrian fatalities in Lahore which allows to specifically improve the pedestrian safety. In this research, 702 accidents involving pedestrian fatalities from 2012 to 2017 have been analyzed to determine the trends of pedestrian accidents in Lahore and learn the accident dense areas. These trends are spatially analyzed using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), an application available in Geographic Information System (GIS), to identify the high-risk locations for pedestrians. The results reveal that most accidents occurred during the peak traffic hours faced largely by males and car is most used vehicle type with reckless driving as the main cause of the pedestrian accidents. The KDE analysis highlighted the high-risk locations for pedestrians which are considered busiest in the city accommodating large traffic volume. Pedestrian safety at these locations can be improved by the enforcement of traffic rules and provision of pedestrian infrastructure and education.