Safety on Jordan's highways: A GIS-Based approach to identifying road accident hotspots

Abstract High numbers of road accidents at Jordan?s major highways pose a substantial threat to public safety, necessitating strategic road safety interventions. This study presents hotspot spatial analysis based on severity indices for three prominent highways in Jordan via geographic information system (GIS) software. A comprehensive road accident network was constructed based on Jordanian road accident data (locations: Highways 30, 35, and 10) from year 2016 to 2019. Each incident?s severity index was taken into consideration. Hotspot patterns were identifed using GIS tools namely (a) GetisOrd Gi* statistic and (b) Global Moran I index for spatial autocorrelation analysis, as they provide detailed information about the spatial distribution as well as statistical signifcance measures for road accident hotspots. The results revealed critical insights into the distribution of accident hotspots along the selected highways. In ascending order, the statistically signifcant hotspots observed were 14, 17, and 78 hotspots from Highways 10, 30, and 35. Hotspot patterns can be classifed as random (Highway 30), dense (Highway 10), and dense clusters (Highway 35). Highway 35 demands targeted interventions to mitigate accidents along this route. This research takes away the hotspots along the highways that can be a good reference for stakeholders (e.g., transportation planners, policymakers, and relevant authorities) to implement best practices and road safety measures on Jordan?s major highways.