Search

Traffic accidents are an emerging problem in cities with high mobility and little urban planning. Evidence is lacking in Argentina regarding the relationship between the environment and accident occurrence; we therefore conducted a geospatial analysis and estimated the risk of accidents and their possible association with the characteristics of the physical environment in the city of Resistencia, Argentina occurring in 2012. Kernel density estimates were used for the spatial distribution of accidents and in parallel an observational, analytical study was carried out to analyze the factors associated with accident occurrence. The results show three critical areas (in the northwest, center and south of the city) with greater accident frequency. Environmental factors that were associated with the occurrence of accidents were the presence of street lighting (23% greater), the presence of a tree close to the road (47% greater), the presence of a traffic light (28% greater), and if the road was a major avenue (122% greater) and had curves (129% greater). This study shows the city of Resistencia to be in a situation of urban vulnerability due not only to its socioeconomic status but also to the unequal development compared to neighboring cities, a reality that fosters an unfavorable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to geospatially explore the occurrence rates of car accidents involving pedestrians in Cercado de Lima (Lima District), Peru. Car accidents involving pedestrians recorded in the 2015 National Police Station Census of the National Statistics and Information Institute were described and georeferenced. Subsequently, a Kernel Density analysis was carried out to locate areas with high, medium, and low density events. Records of 171 car accidents involving pedestrians were studied: the types of vehicles involved were automobiles (56.7%) and smaller vehicles (22.8%). The highest percentage of car accidents involving pedestrians (38.6%) took place between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. There were two densely populated areas and two areas with intermediate density for car accidents involving pedestrians, locations that were previously reported as critical due to their deficiencies and high probability of traffic accidents. The use of geographic information systems offers a quick overview of the occurrence rates of car accidents involving pedestrians to make comparisons and enable the local implementation of strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to determine the potential vulnerability of public health facilities in four northern regions of Peru to the possible effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. An exploratory spatial analysis was performed using the geo-referenced points for at-risk areas based on the activation of gullies that were reported by the National Water Authority, and the location of the four regional public health facilities of the Ministry of Health. Concentric areas of influence were simulate from the points of risk towards the public health facilities using radii of 200, 1000 and 1500 meters. The Tumbes region would be the most affected with 37.2% of its health facilities being affected by floods and landslides. The I-2 and I-3 categories of health facilities appeared to be the most affected with 28.9% and 31.6% respectively. Therefore, public health facilities near the risk zones may be affected by the ENSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]