A Review on the Causes of Animal-involved Accidents (Case Study: Sistan Va Balochestan Province)

Animal-involved Accidents (VWA) are the accidents in which a vehicle hits a stray animal crossing the highway. In southern regions of Iran, large animals like camel are involved in vehicle –animal crashes. This causes serious consequences like casualties and injuries of vehicle occupants, considerable property damage and animal casualty. To gain a better understanding on such collisions, the study was conducted based on 250 accident cases occurred during a two-year period (Jan 2009 – May 2010). In this study, various strategies are suggested to prevent animal-vehicle accidents. In addition, the influential factors (e.g., human, road, vehicle, date and location of accidents etc.) associated with the accidents occurred on rural roads in four provinces (Sistan-va-Balouchestan, Hormozgan, Yazd and Kerman) are evaluated and assessed. The results indicated that, according to the experts’ thoughts, geometric design factors affect the accidents more than pavement factors do. Also, it was shown that about 80% of accidents occur during night time or poor lighting conditions, resulting in over 60% of fatal accidents. Drivers aged between 20 and 39 are more involved in animal-involved accidents. Moreover, light vehicles (e.g., motorcycles, passenger cars, and mini trucks) are involved in severe accidents compared to other vehicle types. Finally, a course of roads with a length of 800 km are identified as accident-prone routes, and a number of 11 locations were determined as those sites with high exposure to animal accident occurrence.