Using Qualitative Study and GIS to Explore Road Accident Black Areas in Algeria

Abstract

This work aims to explore black areas identification through a qualitative methodology based mainly on a series of questionnaires and interviews and by a development of a geographical information system on the road accidents in studied area. The road user, particularly the driver, is generally considered as the first person in charge in the case of accident, while his opinion is rarely joined into the establishment of the solutions to the problems of the road insecurity. Considering needs for the treatment of black areas, problems of the lack of data on the accidents, the different advantages that suggests the concept of participation and the feasibility integrating the road users into the analysis of the road safety. The Qualitative study aims at supplying with the accessibility for the users of the road to indicate the places of male performances of safety according to their feeling and of them the experience. The approach by the GIS aims at first to establish road accidents on the studied site by associating data of different nature and then to make a spatial analysis via ArcGis tool. The study area is a section of national road Highway RN6 of 38 Kms (from the PK00 to the PK38) which across the wilaya of Mascara. it is considered a potentially dangerous stretch in terms of road insafety. The results of this study show that the road users are the daily witnesses on the degree of the danger which presents their usual territory: the road. They can, therefore, to be the complementary information source for the localization of zones at high risk on the road network traveled daily.