A multi-year analysis of traffic accidents involving agricultural tractors
Fecha
2017Autor
Versión
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Tipo
Artículo / Artikulua
Versión
Versión publicada / Argitaratu den bertsioa
Impacto
|
10.3303/CET1758019
Resumen
The agricultural sector in Spain is responsible for a high rate of accidents every year, and many of them are
traffic accidents. Tractors are a relatively rare sight on roads, meaning that the incidence of accidents
involving these vehicles is relatively low, however, an above-average number of people are seriously injured
or killed as a result of such accidents. Tractors are considered respon ...
[++]
The agricultural sector in Spain is responsible for a high rate of accidents every year, and many of them are
traffic accidents. Tractors are a relatively rare sight on roads, meaning that the incidence of accidents
involving these vehicles is relatively low, however, an above-average number of people are seriously injured
or killed as a result of such accidents. Tractors are considered responsible for the majority of the occupational
accidents in agriculture. Moreover, tractor overturns stand out as the principal cause of fatal accidents mainly
because those accidents involved tractors without rollover protective structures (ROPS). Despite the obligation
for all tractors of having a protective structure, the incidence rate of accidents with sick leave followed a rising
line in the last ten years. Thus, in this study an analysis of the data of traffic accidents involving agricultural
tractors in Spain, during the 2004-2013 period, is developed in order to identify the main risk factors that
influence them. Official data from the “Statistical Yearbook of Accidents” published annually were used. A total
of 2892 accidents were analysed. The results obtained showed that the incidence rate of both accidents and
deaths were lower in accidents involving tractors than in general ones, but the consequences were more
severe. In addition, the majority of accidents producing victims happened in interurban roads involving two or
more vehicles. Defects in the lighting and brake systems were identified as risk of producing an accident. In
the majority of the cases, the driver was the only victim of the crash. The total number of victims showed a
decreasing tendency while the fatality index remained constant. The age of driver was reported to directly
influence the number of accidents, with a high proportion of drivers over 45 years old. The main offences
committed by drivers were related to inadequate speed and distracted driving. As much as possible we put our
findings in an international context. [--]
Materias
Traffic accidents,
Agricultural tractors
Editor
AIDIC
Publicado en
Chemical Engineering Transactions, vol 85, 2017
Departamento
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Proyectos e Ingeniería Rural /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Landa Ingeniaritza eta Proiektuak Saila