A Trend Analysis of the Causes of Traffic Accidents on the Nautical Highway of Oriental Mindoro: A Basis for a Proposed Intervention Program

Abstract

Traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death and injuries which affect not only the road users but also the government. The study must be done to assess its socio-economic impact and create intervention programs to reduce, if not eradicate injuries and fatalities significantly. In this study, trend and the causes of traffic accidents on the Nautical Highway of Oriental Mindoro for the years 2013 to 2017 were investigated, and a proposed intervention plan was created. An ecological study was conducted on one city and ten municipalities along the Nautical Highway of Oriental Mindoro. The results showed that the rate per population and frequencies of traffic accident were high in urbanized and densely populated areas. Furthermore, Sunday and the month of March were noted to have higher frequencies of traffic accidents while 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM was the peak time of occurrences. It was revealed that the causes of traffic accidents were mainly human factors while road environment, vehicle defects, and weather conditions were merely occasional. Motorcycles were found to be the dominant vehicle involved. Based on findings, it is highly recommended that an awareness campaign on road safety must be introduced to the public, a comprehensive driving training program must be given to new drivers and retraining driving program to old drivers. Also, there should be an installation of comprehensive regulatory road signs on accident-prone areas or replacement on dilapidated ones and proper demarcation of pedestrian crossings. Increase the visibility of traffic enforcer in areas with heavy pedestrian and traffic congestion to minimize the involvement of pedestrian in traffic accidents.