Improvement works in the BR-282/SC, Lages/SC urban area: an exploratory analysis of the traffic accidents before, during and after the works

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the traffic accidents occurred in BR-282/SC, in the urban area of Lages/SC, Brazil, preliminary, during and succeeding the performed road work, that included the implementation of marginal roads and intersections. All information was obtained from the Brazilian Polícia Rodoviária Federal (PRF), who provides data for all paved federal motorways. Statistical analyses showed that almost all types of recorded accidents had significant reduction after the road work was completed. Nevertheless, we have also noticed an increasing number of accidents during road work due to vehicles that did not respect safe distance. Finally, we can conclude that the number of accidents decreased after the improvement road work was finished and may justify the implementation of similar improvements in further urban areas with critical accident numbers.