1 © 2020 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved. ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENT OCCURRENCE AT HAZARDOUS ROAD LOCATIONS: A CASE STUDY IN TUNISIA Fedy Ouni 1 Mounir Belloumi 2+ 1 Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Sousse, Tunisia. 2 Professor, College of Administrative Sciences, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia. (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 14 November 2019 Revised: 23 December 2019 Accepted: 27 January 2020 Published: 2 March 2020 Keywords Traffic accidents Hazardous road locations Negative binomial model Random effects negative binomial model Tunisia Efficient transportation systems Traffic policies. JEL Classification: R41, R42. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of factors linked to the geometric, roadway and traffic flow characteristics on traffic accident occurrence at Hazardous Road Locations (HRL) in the region of Sousse, Tunisia using longitudinal data of 52 HRLs for an 11-year monitoring period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2014. The results of estimation of Negative Binomial model and the Random Effects Negative Binomial model reported that the different variables representing the presence of rural segment, the curved alignment, the visibility, the average daily traffic volume, the presence of public lighting, the number of lane, the presence of vertical/horizontal sign, the presence of drainage system, the presence of paved shoulder, the roadway surface condition, and the presence of major road were the main significant variables influencing accident occurrences. Therefore, the results could be useful for deciders in the transport sector in order to implement effective measures to improve road safety by adopting proper sound use practices, establishing efficient transportation systems and formulating appropriate traffic policies and legislation. Contribution/Originality: This is one of the few studies which have investigated the occurrence of traffic accidents at Hazardous Road Locations in the region of Sousse (Tunisia) as a function of various explanatory factors linked to the geometric characteristics, roadway characteristics and traffic flow characteristics. 1. INTRODUCTION The accidents caused by road traffic are a very common cause of admission to the hospital around the world, especially in developing countries. Disability, loss of days of work as consequence of the road traffic accidents lead to further socioeconomic deprivation in the society. Road traffic collisions lead to massive social and economic costs. Thus, traffic safety is an important issue especially in Tunisia. According to Hillier (2002) road accidents are the results of the human, vehicle and environmental related factors. Precautions regarding these three aspects are essential to take care from road accidents (Van Raemdonck & Macharis, 2014). Nowadays, road traffic safety is considered as the most studied subjects in the field of transportation engineering. Every year, approximately 1.2 million deaths and about 50 million injuries are caused by road accidents (World Health Organization, 2013). The mortality rates are highest in the eastern Mediterranean and in the African region. More than 90 per cent of road deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (World Health Organization, 2013). For example in Tunisia, 1443 persons were killed in 2016 and 11035 were injured in traffic-related crashes on the roads (National International Journal of Public Policy and Administration Research 2020 Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1-15 ISSN(e): 2312-6515 ISSN(p): 2313-0423 DOI: 10.18488/journal.74.2020.71.1.15 © 2020 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.