Spatial Patterns of Intra-Urban Traffic Accidents in Rasht

Urban development, rapid increase in car ownership along with limited transportation network expansion has accelerated car accidents in large cities of Iran during the past decades. This article aims to identify the spatial patterns of intra city car accidents in the Rasht and analyze the probable causal factors. A complete year (2006) accident data collected by police for the City of Rasht, have been employed in this analysis. The main findings of the study are: -Main streets radiating from city center and the ring road have the highest number of car accidents and small streets locating between city center and ring road relatively have the smallest number accidents. - The form and location of intersections correlate with the amount of car accidents. Most of the traffic circles especially those located on the ring road have the higher number of car accidents compared with four-way or three-way intersections. - Concentration of commercial, service and office activities in the city center correlates with main streets radiating from city center with higher number of car accidents. - Removing the transient traffic from the city, enhancement of public transportation system, improving the existing streets and upgrading intersections could reduce the traffic accidents in Rasht.