Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
ISSN: 2040-7459; e-ISSN: 2040-7467
© Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2014
Submitted: August 12, 2013
Accepted: September 05, 2013
Published: March 29, 2014
Analyzing Accidents Caused by Overturn of Vehicles (Case Study of Iran-Zanjan
Province in 2010)
Seyed Mahdi Sajjadi, Mohd Zulkifli Bin Mohd Yunus, Othman Che Puan, Taha Mehmannavaz,
Iman Faridmehr, Seyed Amir Hossein Beheshti and Mostafa Samadi
Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Abstract: Today, issue of accidents has turned into a great complication in Iran and it can be interpreted as silent
killer which causes death of tens of human. Of the major and effective factors in occurrence of accidents are vehicle
and road each playing role according to the available statistics. One of the major causes which cause serious injuries
and cause death of the passengers of vehicles by 50% according to the available statistics is overturn of vehicle and
all of the three factors mentioned above can play essential role in its emergence which is mostly caused by human.
This paper studies causes of overturn based on the available statistics in 2010 relating to Zanjan Province, one of the
provinces of northwest of Iran and suggested ways for reducing it in this province.
Keywords: Accidents, human, overturn, silent killer, vehicle
INTRODUCTION
3000
Main goal of this paper is to study factors affecting
overturn accidents in extra-city roads of Zanjan
Count
40
1000
500
487 462
20
171 155 51
48 47 10
8
5
4
0
c le
w it
ha
Ve
hic
le w vehic
le
ith
ao
O
Ve
b je
hic vert
ct
le w um
Av
ehi or ith m and f
al
cle bic ot
wi ycl orcy l
th
c le
ser e
val
Ve
hic
le w vehic
Ve
le
ith
h ic
ani
le
w it
ma
hp
l
ede
str
ia n
Mo
Ot
to
her
mo rcycl
tor e w
C r cycle ith
eat
ing
fire
N
w it
o
t
M
hb
s
icy otorc pecif
ic
cle yc
o r le
p ed
est
r ia
n
0
Kind of collision
Fig. 1: Pareto diagram of collision in all accidents of the
province
Province. The following goals are the subset of main
goals (Transportation and Terminals Organization of
Zanjan, 2010):
•
•
•
GOALS OF THIS PAPER
60
1500 1,381
Percent (%)
80
2000
Ve
hi
Based on reports of Iran Police Department in
2010, unfortunately, more than 4000 accidents have
occurred in totally 182000 km of roads of Iran which
led to death of more than 23000 persons and injury of
about 312000 persons. This Department considers
human factor and violation of traffic regulations, the
presence of hazardous sections and points, auto scraps
and many other economic factors which are effective on
term and manner of driving as the fixed factors causing
accidents.
Since one of the factors in death and injury of
people in car accident is vehicle, the information
presented by researches center of Iran Islamic
Consultative Assembly shows that Asian countries and
Mediterranean Sea area with 16% of total vehicles in
the world experience more than 44% of mortality rate
of driving accidents (Organization Police, 2010). From
another perspective, study of all mortality rates
resulting from driving accidents in the world shows that
Asia, Africa and Latin America have 80% of mortality
rate of driving accidents while share of the European
countries is only 12% and the remaining share belongs
to other countries.
In this study, attempt has been made to analyze
road accidents caused by overturn by punching
necessary information of Cam 114 forms in 2010 and
using SPSS statistical software.
100
2500
•
Studying status of overturn accidents compared
with other accidents
Identifying factors relating to time of accident in
overturn road accidents
Identifying factors relating to place of accident in
overturn road accidents
Identifying factors relating to drivers in overturn
road accidents
Corresponding Author: Seyed Mahdi Sajjadi, Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM
Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
2509
Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
80.0
All car accident
All car overtum
70.0
7.0
6.0
60.0
50.0
5.0
40.0
4.0
30.0
3.0
20.0
2.0
10.0
1.0
0.0
Death
Injury
0.0
Vehicle
damage
Non-holiday
Fig. 2: Pareto diagram of road accidents of the province
compared with overturn accidents
100
400
40
13
Pe
r
veh sonal
ic l
e
P ic
kup
Lo
rry
Tra
ile
r
Sm
a ll
lon
y
4
3
2
1
1
0
0
Ag
im ncul
p le tu r
m e al
No
n
t s p ts
eci
fie
d
Mi
n ib
us
15
0
60
200
100
20
46
Bu
s
52
Count
200
300
40
49 48 46
44 41 40 39 35 33 31 31
13
4
Percent (%)
60
80
Percent (%)
Count
400
80
300
The dy before
holiday
500
100
325
Holiday
Fig. 4: Diagram of accidents/day ratio of the province relative
to overturn in terms of day of accident
500
100
All car accident
All car overtum
20
24
0
Oct Jul Feb Aug Jun Sep May Mar Dec Jan Apr Nov
Month
Fig. 5: Pareto diagram of overturn accidents month
Kind of vehicles
Fig. 3: Pareto diagram of road accidents of the province in
terms of faulty accidents
•
•
Identifying factors relating to weather and road
condition and geometrical design of road in
overturn road accidents
Identifying factors relating to vehicle effective on
overturn road accidents
Studying status of overturn accidents compared
with other accidents in Zanjan province:
Collision: The diagram of Fig. 1 shows that 25% of 12
collisions in accidents i.e., a vehicle with vehicle,
vehicle with object, overturn and fall have caused more
than 80% of accidents of which above 16% related to
overturn which is considerable.
Type of accident: Figure 2 shows that injury and death
cases in overturn accidents are more frequent than those
in other accidents. In other words, about 7% of total
accidents leading to overturn led to death of passengers
and about 33% led to injury of the passengers and about
60% only incurred damage while these percents are 4,
22 and 74%, respectively.
Type of faulty vehicle: As shown in Fig. 3, about 70%
of personal vehicle had accidents leading to overturn
and some of the passengers of these vehicles die due to
unsafe personal vehicle and some precautions should be
taken to increase safety and strength of the hull and
ceiling of these vehicles to reduce mortality resulting
from these accidents.
This diagram shows that 20% of the vehicles which
had accident leading to overturn (passenger and pickup)
had more than 80% of accidents leading to overturn of
the province and considerable percent i.e., about 70%
of the accidents were caused by passenger vehicle.
Factors relating to time position at time of overturn
road accidents:
Day of accident: Figure 4 shows that we see more
accidents leading to overturn in the days before holiday
than other days while accidents are less frequent in the
days before holiday than other days.
Month of accident: Pareto diagram of Fig. 5 shows
that more than 40% of accidents leading to overturn
have occurred in 4 months i.e., October, July, February
and August. In diagram of Fig. 6 you can see total
accident percent of the province compared with
overturn accidents based on month of accident.
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Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
12.0
Factors relating to spatial position in occurrence of
overturn road accidents:
Distance of accidents: Diagram of Fig. 8 doesn’t show
a special trend considering distance between overturned
vehicle and origin. This diagram shows that distance
from origin has no special effect on overturn of vehicle.
All car accident
All car overtum
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Fig. 6: Diagram of total accidents percent of the province
compared with overturn accidents based on month of
accident
8.0
7.0
6.0
Position of accident: Diagram of Fig. 11 shows that
about 65% of overturn accidents has occurred in street
lane. This diagram can make human factor and factor
of quality of road in overturn accidents more evident.
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
Accident place specification: Diagram of Fig. 12
shows that more than 90% of overturn accidents has
occurred in ordinary condition of road which shows
evident effect of human factor on occurrence of these
accidents.
All car accident
All car overtum
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12
12-13
13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
18-19
19-20
20-21
21-22
22-23
23-24
24-1
1.0
0
Accident place axis: Pareto Diagram of Fig. 9 shows
that more than 60% of accidents leading to overturn
occur in 3 out of 14 routes available in Zanjan Province
which are Zanjan-Qazvin Highway, Zanjan Tabriz
Highway and Zanjan-Mianeh Highway due to long
driving time and fatigue of driver, excessive failures of
asphalt, traffic more than the expected capacity of road
etc. In diagram of Fig. 10 you can see total accident of
the province compared with overturn accidents in terms
of accidents axis.
Fig. 7: Diagram of total accidents of province compared with
overturn accidents in terms of hour of accident
Hour of accident: Figure 7 shows the highest number
of accidents leading to overturn in 4-5 P.M while other
accidents have reached its peak at 6-7 P.M.
Use of the region of accident place: The diagram of
Fig. 13 shows that about 60% of the accidents leading
to overturn have occurred between cities and about 30%
in agricultural regions. Considering this diagram, factor
of pavement quality in agricultural regions can be
4.0
Percent (%)
3.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
3.0
5.0
7.0
9.0
11.0
15.0
17.0
19.0
21.0
23.0
25.0
27.0
30.0
32.0
35.0
37.0
39.0
41.0
43.0
45.0
47.0
50.0
53.0
55.0
58.0
60.0
62.0
64.0
66.0
69.0
71.0
73.0
75.0
77.0
80.0
82.0
84.0
87.0
90.0
92.0
94.0
97.0
99.0
101.0
103.0
105.0
0.0
Distance
Fig. 8: Diagram of overturn accidents in terms of distance between place of accident and origin
2511
Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
500
100
400
300
60
200 169
40
82
7
3
3
0
Soltaniyeh-Qeydar
8
Taham sidetrack
Zanjan-Dandi
Zanjan-Tarom
Qeydar-Abhar
Qeydar-Soltaniyeh
Zanjan-khorramdareh
Zanjir-Bjiar
Zanjan-mianeh
Qeydar-Hamedan
Zanjan-Tabniz highway
Zanjan-Qazvin highway
0
Ardabil old road
20
42 36 28 27
17 17 12 11
Mahneshan sidetrack
100
Percent (%)
Count
80
Axis
Fig. 9: Pareto diagram of overturn accidents place
100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
S tr
eet
l
in e
Qeydar-Soltaniyeh
Qeydar-Hamedan
Zanjan-Dandi
Qeydar-Abhar
Zanjir-Bjiar
Taham sidetrack
Mahneshan sidetrack
Zanjir-Mianeh
Ardabil old road
Soltaniyeh-Qeydar
Zanjan-Tarom
Zanjan-khorramdareh
Zanjan-Qazvin highway
Zanjan-Tabniz highway
her
0
Ot
0
10.0
ide
Ou
tsid
eo
of f fro
roa nta
d
ge
5.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
20.0
15.0
Ro
ads
25.0
Mi
of ddle
roa ba
nd
d
30.0
All car accident
All car overturn
sho
ul
35.0
d er
All car accident
All car overtum
Ro
ad
40.0
Fig. 11: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of accidents position
Fig. 10: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of accidents axis
regarded as important factor of accidents caused by
overturn in these regions.
Identifying factors relating to drivers in overturn
road accidents:
Effective human factor: Diagram of Fig. 14 shows
that about 35% of the causes of overturn accidents is
unreasonable hurry of driver and more than 25% of
cases relates to exhaustion and somnolence of driver.
Both cases above can result from factors such as
economic, cultural and social issues of driver. Cultural
issues can be regarded as the most important factor of
such accidents which can be taught by culture building
through mass media of drivers.
Absolute cause of accidents: Diagram of Fig. 15
shows that the most important cause of accidents leads
to overturn is inability to control vehicle by driver and
lack of attention to the front and vehicle control test
should be included in practical tests for issuing
certificate.
Age of faulty driver: Diagram of Fig. 16 shows that
about 60% of overturn accidents occurs in 30% of age
range of 21 to 40 years and this age range can be named
dangerous age range. One of the reasons for increase of
overturn accidents in this age range is unawareness of
people with driving and high emotion which can be
reduced through proper training. In diagram of Fig. 17
you can see the total accidents of the province
2512
Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
45.0
40.0
35.0
30.0
All car accident
All car overtum
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0
her
Di
sre
10.0
30.0
0
20.0
Ot
No
Ag
r ic
u lt
nal
atio
Re
cr e
ust
r ia
Ind
om
me
rc
Of
f ic
Fig. 13: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of accident place
use
compared with overturn accidents in terms of age of
faulty driver.
Education of faulty driver: Diagram of Fig. 18 shows
that educational level plays role in reduction of
accidents which indicates awareness of people with
proper driving and outcomes of hurried and improper
driving. In diagram of Fig. 19 you can see the total
accidents of the province compared with overturn
accidents in terms of education of faulty driver.
All car accident
All car overturn
10.0
0
Other reasons
Violation of regulation carry cargo
Violation of article 4 safety act
Sudden change of direction
Permanent technical fault of the vehicle
A sudden technical fault of vehicle
Moving with reserve gear
Move in opposite direction
Passing from forbidden location
Round with wrong method
Right shift
Left shift
Overrun to left due to overtaking
Violation of legal speed
Violation of reliable speed
Inability to control vehicle by driver
Lack of driving skills
Lack of attention to the front
Violating the night of way
Non-compliance with lateral distance
Non-compliance with linear distance
e-c
den
t
h er
40.0
ne
20.0
Sc h
ool
50.0
ura
l
30.0
l
60.0
ia l
70.0
ia l
50.0
40.0
Re
si
We
ek
na
nd
hau
stio
Fig. 14: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of effective human
factor in accident
All car accident
All car overturn
60.0
Ex
Fig. 12: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of accident place
specification
70.0
som
Ot
Ar
con ea un
tra der
cti
on
e
Sq
uar
Br
id
Int
e
rse
ct
No
rm
al
io n
ge
0
All car accident
All car overtum
no
le n
ce
Or
g
a
nes
nf
a
s
i
gar
lur
du
e to
e
din
gt
old
r af
Un
age
f ic
rea
reg
son
ula
ab l
tio
eh
ns
urr
yo
fd
r iv
er
No
Do
es
d
i
ag n
no
tk
osi
no
Int
s
wt
ent
he
ion
roa
al i
d
nfr
ing
em
ent
Ot
her
mo
des
Ha
ve
no
t
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
Fig. 15: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of absolute cause in
accident
vehicles by building public culture and increasing
tangible and intangible control of speed of vehicles.
Identifying factors relating to weather and road
condition and geometrical design of road in
Conditions of sidewalk surface at time of accident:
Diagram of Fig. 21 shows that about 80% of overturn
overturn road accidents:
accidents has occurred in dry condition of sidewalk
Weather condition at time of accident: Diagram of
which can indicate high speed and lack of attention of
Fig. 20 shows that more than 70% of overturn
driver to the front. About 10% of overturn accidents has
accidents have occurred in clear sky which can indicate
occurred in icy and snowy sidewalk which is due to
that speed of vehicles was higher than other conditions
failure to use snow chain and the absence of reliable
and one of the most important factors in overturn
brake in vehicles.
accidents which should cause to reduce speed of
2513
Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
All car accident
All car overtum
40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
ee
Ba
che
er ’
lor
sd
egr
ee
or
hig
h
a
ate
deg
r
lom
As
soc
i
D ip
e
wd
ip l
era
t
Be
lo
Illi
t
fy
No
t sp
eci
All car accident
All car overturn
35.0
om
a
0
Fig. 16: Pareto diagram of age of faulty driver in overturn
accidents
Ma
st
30.0
25.0
Fig. 19: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of education of
faulty driver
20.0
15.0
60.0
41
-6
All car accident
All car overtum
50.0
Ov
er
Un
der
y
eci
f
t sp
No
60
0
0
70.0
31
-40
5.0
21
-30
80.0
20
10.0
40.0
30.0
Fig. 17: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of age of faulty
driver
20.0
10.0
dy
Clo
u
Sto
rm
y
Ra
in y
Sn
ow
y
gg
y
Fo
Mi
ld
0
Fig. 20: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of weather condition
of faulty driver
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
All car accident
All car overturn
10.0
irty
O il
yo
rd
y
Mu
dd
soi
l
an d
nd
Sa
Gl
aci
al a
We
t
y
Dr
Defects of sidewalk effective in accident: Diagram of
Fig. 22 shows that about 50% of sidewalk in which
overturn accidents occurred had no defect and 20% of
the cases related to narrowness of sidewalk for which
necessary actions should be taken for increasing width
of road and about 10% of cases relate to slipperiness of
nd
sno
wy
0
Fig. 18: Pareto diagram of faulty driver in overturn accidents
Fig. 21: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of sidewalk surface
at time of accident
2514
Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 7(12): 2509-2515, 2014
60.0
50.0
45.0
All car accident
All car overtum
50.0
20.0
40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
10.0
5.0
40.0
30.0
Not specify
Have not
Other defects
Not restrain load
Lack wiper
Lack of car chains
No tread of the tirel
Defect of steering system
Defect of brake system
Other
Road surface slippery
Defects lighting passage
Longitudinal and transversely op non standard
Curve with sharp angle
Asphalt surface defects
Road subsidence
Non standard passage guard
Lack of safty fence along the passage
Level difference between the pavement and shoulder
Lack of parking and shoulder
Existence a bump
Being narrow of passage
Horizontal system defects
Vertical symptoms
No defects
Defect of lighting system
0
0
All car accident
All car overtum
Fig. 24: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of factor of faulty
vehicle in accident
Fig. 22: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of defects of
sidewalk effective in accident
90.0
Barriers of vision effective in accident: Diagram of
Fig. 23 shows that there is no barrier of vision in more
than 80% of cases and there is blind spot in about 10%
of the cases due to interference of slope with horizontal
arc and has caused accident and these places should be
identified and steep routes located in horizontal arc
should be removed.
Identifying factors relating to drivers in overturn
road accidents:
Factor of faulty vehicle in accident: Diagram of
Fig. 24 shows that vehicle has no defect in more than
40% of cases and factors which cause accident relate to
driver and road.
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
CONCLUSION
All car accident
All car overtum
10.0
Freezing of vehicle glass
It is concluded from the presented diagrams and
discussion that human factor plays considerable role in
emergence of accidents leading to overturn in the first
instance which includes high speed and lack of
attention to the front and then factors of road and
vehicle are important and such accidents which lead to
death and injury of many passengers of cars should be
prevented by increasing public culture building and
controlling vehicles tangibly and intangibly i.e., by
increasing fines.
Not listed
Construction-booth
Shrub-tree
Without sight dam
LED light of against vehicle
Penal
Sandstorm
Blizzard
Fog-fume
Vertical curve
Slope
Sun light
Moving vehicle
Stop vehicle
Soil hill
0
Fig. 23: Diagram of total accidents of the province compared
with overturn accidents in terms of barriers of vision
effective in accident
the sidewalk surface and necessary precautions should
be taken to use snow chain and correct coating of
asphalt.
REFERENCES
Organization Police, 2010. Iranian Police Journal.
Transportation and Terminals Organization of Zanjan,
2010. Journal of Transportation and Terminals
Organization of Zanjan, Iran, 100.
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