Citation

Nicholson A. Safety Sci. 1998; 31(1): 71-91.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper discusses the need for spatial distributions of accidents to be analysed, as an aid to selecting the most appropriate type of accident reduction programme (e.g. site, route and area plans) and assessing the effectiveness of such plans after implementation. It is argued that current practice for assessing spatial distributions of accidents is insufficiently objective, and statistical analysis techniques for spatial data (including quadrat and nearest-neighbour methods) are reviewed. A new classification scheme for spatial distributions is proposed, such that detection of a particular pattern indicates which type of accident reduction programme is likely to be the most effective. The more promising statistical analysis techniques are assessed and implementation of those techniques is discussed.