EFFECT OF THE RESIDENTIAL ZONE TRAFFIC REGULATION ON TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS --ROAD USER BEHAVIOR. THEORY AND RESEARCH. PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROAD SAFETY HELD IN GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS, AUGUST 1987

In a review on the present accident situation in osaka city, it appeared that nearly half of the accidents occurred in the residential area. Comprehensive traffic regulations (zonal regulations) were imposed in 1974 by the osaka prefecture police headquarters to improve the traffic environment, and particularly the traffic safety in residential areas. These gradually spread to the larger urbanized areas, and by 1986, 606 zones had this type of regulation. This covers 36.1% of the area of osaka prefecture. Such a zone unit usually covers a neighbourhood including 1 or 2 elementary schools and a population of 10000-20000. Although the number of regulations has been greatly increased, the effects of the regulation have not been clearly demonstrated. In this study, the effects of the zonal regulation on traffic accidents were analyzed using data from 20 regions chosen from the residential zones with this type of regulation in osaka city. This chapter contains two types of analyses; (1) macroscopic analysis of 16 zones, based on data from each zone; and (2) microscopic analysis of 4 zones on data from each road section or each intersection. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 815404.