IDENTIFYING HAZARDOUS TRAFFIC CRASHES AREA UTILIZING THE APPLICATION OF GIS

Objective: This study aims to explore the problems related to the current design of the city of Al-Diwaniyah-Iraq, address the problems it faces of road deficiencies and traffic crashes, and find alternative solutions to them. Method: The program (ArcMap 10.8.2 and ArcGIS pro-3.0.2) and aerial photos were used from the Al-Diwaniyah municipality Directorate and spatial analysis to carry out this study, and the data from the Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital. Results: The number of crashes in the City of Al-Diwaniyah reached 14,243 from 2015 to 2023. According to the results, using hot spot analysis, the hottest area with the highest number of crashes is the Al-Jamieih district, which has a rate of 50.13 crashes per mile on paved roads only. The results showed that the hottest region was the Al-Jumhurii Al-Sharqii, with a rate of 9.5 crashes per mile. The road area is small, with 7.65 miles occupied by 654 crashes. Novelty: The crash rate was also estimated by roads in general (paved and unpaved).