Analysis on the basic characteristics of mountainous expressway fatal traffic accidents and coutermeasure

The fatal traffi c accidents on Mountainous Expressway was analyzed, so did the characteristics and causes regarding to the accident modality, traffi c environment, accident time, type of vehicle technology and vehicle types, based on which the prevention and reduction measures are suggested. 1. Accident characteristics 1) Accident modality It is similar to that of the rearend impact in the plain highway, besides there are a large portion of the single vehicle accidents and the pedestrian accident, which resulted in a higher casualty rate. The restriction of mountain geographical conditions, with more up-and-down ramps, corners and tunnels, and then the car in front is too fast or too slow and distance control is not good, it would lead to rearend accident easily; the poor safety consciousness of pedestrian made them across the highway, which often led the crash happen; poor vehicle condition, not familiar with the road, and speeding are the chief causes for the single vehicle accidents. 2) Traffi c Environment The indexes in sunny weather conditions, such as the number of accidents, the number of deaths and injuries are much higher than the indexes in other weather conditions. Main reasons: weather is good; drivers are more likely to let down their guard, illegal drive more easily, leading to accidents. Under different lighting conditions, the accident statistics circumstances show that, the number of accidents and deaths during the day and other indices are higher than the index of the night. 3) The time of the accident occurred The most accidents happened in 7:00 to 9:00, and 18:00 to 21:00. Reason: at the stage of time change between day and night, the driver's psychological state is excite or fatigue, line of sight is vague, along with more pedestrian haunted. During 11:00 - 14:00 the number of accidents is the least because of the less vehicle fl ow. 4) The technical performance of vehicles and the types of vehicles From the accident vehicles' technical performance, 71.56% of the accident vehicles meets GB72582004 requirements, 28.44% can not reach the relevant national standards. Trucks account for 53.61% of total accidents vehicles in serious traffi c accident, cars account for 30.41%, passenger cars accounted for 11.86%. The poor vehicle condition and the bad habits of the truck drivers made trucks the largest proportion. 2. The Countermeasure 1) Human factors: education and publicity, elimination highway butt accidents; strict drivers' examination system, acceleration in the training of highway traffi c management expertises. 2) To further enhance the technical performance of the vehicle testing. 3) On the basis of ensuring the highway alignment design and the quality of construction of the building to enhance the conservation and maintenance of highways, improve, and strengthen road safety measures. 4) Strengthening statistical analysis of highways traffi c accidents, to grasp the rules and characteristics of traffi c accidents, is conducive to early prevention and targeted treatment. Key words: mountainous expressway, traffi c accident, prevention measures.