Analysis of Predisposition of Drivers to Cause Road Accidents in Guwahati Using a Neural Network

Need for the economic growth has resulted in the rapid development of road transportation facilities worldwide. This has resulted in the increase in the number of road accidents. These accidents are of global concern as they result in the loss of valuable lives of millions of people every year. These accidents also affect the economy of a country as they mainly affect the working class population. The number of road accidents are generally large in a developed city because of traffic congestion especially during morning and evening hours. Cities like Guwahati of North-eastern state Assam of India is witnessing large number of road accidents in the recent years. There are many factors contributing towards road accidents. These factors can be grouped in three categories as environmental characteristics, vehicular characteristics, and driver characteristics. In the present study, influences of these factors on the road traffic accidents are studied. The data related to driver characteristics are gathered through questionnaires survey, and the data related to environmental characteristics and vehicular characteristics are gathered through observations. The relationship between these factors and predisposition of drivers to cause road accidents is analysed through artificial neural network model. Sensitivity analysis is done to infer the extent of influence of each factor on the occurrence of an accident. From the analysis, it is observed that environmental characteristics have the highest influence on occurrence of an accident. This type of analysis can be used to take suitable measures to reduce the rate of accidents in Guwahati region.