Impact of infrastructure and local environment on road unsafety. Logistic modeling with spatial autocorrelation

This article aims at modeling the impact of road characteristics and local spatial environment on road (un)safety. The study applies to Belgium where some 1500 people are killed annually on the roads. This statistic corresponds to one of the highest risks in Europe. Road unsafety is expressed here as whether an hectometer of road belongs to a black zone; a black zone is defined as a segment of road where roads accidents are concentrated. Logistic modeling including spatial autocorrelation is used and compared to non-spatial regression. It is shown that a spatial model is needed to avoid biased estimated parameters. Results show that local environment and road infrastructure play a substantial role in the co-occurrence of road accidents. Hence, education and enforcement cannot be the only measures taken to reach a sustainable road safety. To attain their objectives of accident reduction, public authorities should also take their responsibilities in the matter of securing road infrastructure.