Trend analysis and spatial patterns of fatal traffic accidents in Malaysia: A case study of the Timur Laut District, Penang

Road accident injuries are number one killer in the world after chronic diseases such as heart disease, strokes, pneumonia, and breathing difficulties. In Malaysia, fatalities due to road accidents had increased alarmingly by 70% between 1990 and 201. This study analysed distribution trends and patterns of fatal accidents using Geographic Information System (GIS) for all types of vehicles in the Penang’s Northeast (Timur Laut) District based on the district’s fatal accidents statistics recorded for the 2011, 2012 and 2013. Results of the analysis showed that the rates of fatal accidents for 2011, 2012 and 2013 were high at 90, 88 and 91 incidents respectively. The fatal accident rate was highest in the Jelutong Police Station borders while the lowest was in the Community Taman Desa Permai Police Station borders. The main streets that recorded highest fatal accidents were Jalan Air Hitam Expressway, Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. The spatial patterns of fatal accidents in Northeast, Pulau Pinang, were analysed using the average nearest neighbour (ANN) technique. From the ANN analysis it was found that the fatal accidents for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 tended to depict clustered patterns. The null hypothesis had to be rejected, therefore. To sum up, road accidents in the district were more concentrated and clustered in a particular space due to differences in the physical structure of the road, volume of traffic and importance of the road to the users in the vicinity.