GENERAL FEATURES OF ROAD CRASHES IN CLUJ COUNTY, ROMANIA. SPATIALITY AND CAUSALITY
GENERAL FEATURES OF ROAD CRASHES IN CLUJ COUNTY, ROMANIA. SPATIALITY AND CAUSALITY

Summary/Abstract: Road crashes have become a serious issue, and their negative impact, both socially and economically, has been subject to policies and programmes worldwide as well as a research topic for numerous studies in various fields. The present study aims to identify and demonstrate the persistence of certain features related to the occurrence and location of road crashes in Cluj County, Romania, which is a territory recording a constant high road crash incidence in the last decade. We used descriptive statistics to illustrate the key features of road crashes occurring in urban and rural areas, by road type, within the administrative territory of Cluj County, Romania. The analysis was focused on four main aspects: causes, effects in terms of persons injured and deaths, occurrence by road type, and location within and outside urban areas. The years 2019, 2009, and 2018 were considered as reference moments for the values recorded for all indicators in the analysis. Results showed a general trend of decrease in road crash incidence in 2019 compared to 2009, which was also confirmed by the absolute and relative increase in the period 2018-2019. The most significant decrease was found in the number of deaths, especially in the case of road crashes occurring on national roads and urban streets, where the incidence is still quite high. However, when ranked considering the number of crashes caused, we noted the persistence of certain categories of triggering factors for the high incidence of road crashes related to both drivers and pedestrians. Road safety is very much related to the behaviour of all participants in traffic and not so much to the road infrastructure and quality, although road capacity may be a triggering factor for drivers’ behaviour. Further measures are needed to enhance road safety and meet the European target of halving the road crash number and fatalities until 2020 and in the next decade.

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