Multi-causal analysis of traffic accidents in two cities of Colombia

Análisis multicausal de ‘accidentes’ de tránsito en dos ciudades de Colombia

Objective: faced with the growing public health problem that represent the Road Traffic Injuries, it is necessary to start generating solutions that increase road safety transport system. For this, it is essential to investigate deeply the factors associated with the occurrence of road crashes. Materials and methods: this study analyzed several road incidents in two cities in Colombia using the DREAM 3.0 method (Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method). This method seeks to categorize all causes associated with a road incident, assigning different levels of relevance to the factor in the occurrence of the event. The method uses on site observation as the main source of information, and classifies the factors into three main groups: human, technological and organizational. Results: in Ibague, there were found accidents with up to 20 genotypes (contributing factors) involved; the most recurring number of factors for a crash was 9 (19%), followed by events with 12 factors involved (18%). There was found only one accident with just one related genotype. Similarly, in Valledupar, the study found events with up to 18 genotypes involved, and it was more frequent to find events with 12 factors involved (21%), followed by those with 11 (14%). The incidents with the least number of genotypes related had 8 and 9 (3% each one). For both cities, the study allowed the ratification of the precept that road traffic incidents are multi-causal. Conclusions: it was found that for these cities, the human factors are the major contributors to the occurrence for incidents of traffic, aggravated by clear deficiencies in infrastructure and some organizational problems.