نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
The COVID-19 pandemic, by bringing about fundamental changes in travel patterns and driving behavior, has significantly influenced the structure of road traffic accidents. The objective of this study is to conduct an epidemiological analysis of road traffic accidents and to examine temporal, spatial, and behavioral changes among drivers in Mazandaran Province during the pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19 periods. This study adopts a descriptive–analytical design, and its data include all traffic accidents recorded by the Traffic Police of Mazandaran Province during the study period (2018–2023). After data cleaning, spatial, temporal, and causal variables were classified, and analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, and Poisson regression modeling to examine factors affecting the severity of accident outcomes. In addition, spatial analysis and accident density mapping were employed to identify spatial patterns. The novelty of this study lies in its comparative analysis of traffic accidents across three time periods—pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic—and in its investigation of changes in driving behavior under conditions of social crisis. The results indicate that during the pandemic, despite a reduction in traffic volume, the proportion of high-risk accidents—particularly rollovers and those associated with speeding—increased, and the temporal pattern of accidents shifted toward low-traffic hours. Furthermore, after the easing of restrictions, some of these high-risk patterns persisted. Overall, the findings demonstrate that human factors, time of occurrence, and type of collision play a decisive role in accident severity, and that the results of this study can inform traffic safety policymaking and transportation management in similar crisis situations.
کلیدواژهها English
