Investigation and Identification of Human Factors Related to Traffic Accidents leading to injury or Death in Yazd City

Introduction: Traffic accidents are a major problem in the field of transportation in Iran. To address this problem, detailed studies are needed especially over the impact of human risk factors. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying and recognizing the human characteristics associated with the occurrence of traffic accidents resulting in injury or death in the city of Yazd. Methods: In this cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study, Yazd traffic accident data were collected using simple sampling method. The data were collected on the basis of COM form 114 by traffic experts present at the accident scenes. After data collection, the data were entered into SPSS software version 20 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: A total of 2082 cases were studied in traffic accidents (pedestrians=8.8%, passengers=15.4%, and drivers=75.8%). The average age of injured and deceased persons in traffic accidents were 35.08±13.89 and 45.37±17.12 years, respectively. The most common human factors involved in traffic accidents were rush and acceleration (96.8%). Moreover, nonconformity of priority right was 98.9%. A statistically significant relationship was found between human factors and traffic accidents leading to death or injury (p-value=0.04). Conclusion:  According to the findings, controlling human risk factors can reduce the risk of death and injuries in traffic accidents. Officials, policymakers, and planners can also plan on the most influential factor by carefully analyzing human errors in the event of a traffic accident.