Clustering and Profiling Traffic Roads by Means of Accident Data

In Belgium, every year approximately 50.000 injury accidents occur in traffic, with almost 70.000 victims, of which 1.500 deaths (Belgian Institute for Traffic Safety, 2000). Not only does the steady increase in traffic intensity pose a heavy burden on the society in terms of the number of casualties, the insecurity on the roads will also have an important effect on the economic costs associated with traffic accidents. In Belgium, this macro-economic loss due to the lack of traffic safety on the roads is estimated at 3.72 billion Euros per year (Dielemann, 2000). Accordingly, traffic safety is currently one of the highest priorities of the Belgian government.