Citation

Stern E, Zehavi Y. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 1990; 15(1): 102-111.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.2307/623096

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A fairly neglected aspect of the relationship between atmospheric environment and human behaviour concerns the association between thermal conditions and road safety; an aspect which has both a theoretical and a practical value. This study examines two hypotheses concerning the effect of heat stress on the risk level of road accidents and their type. Based on the common assumption that the occurrence probability of road accidents follows the Poisson distribution, the Nordens' model for identifying 'black spots' is used with a 7 year data set from the Arava road in Israel. Risk level of road accidents in general is found to increase with the severity of hot weather. The majority of accidents occurring under hot weather conditions are those involving only one-person judgement, from which 'running off the road' accidents are especially associated with high levels of heat stress. The common lore linking heat stress and road safety is statistically confirmed.