The impact of politics, security and health on the escalation of road traffic accidents and their consequences in Iraq for the period 2015-2020.

Background: This study aimed to detect the impact of politics, security and health on the escalation of road traffic accidents (RTAs) and their consequences in Iraq for the period 2015-2020.

Methodology: The data of this cross-sectional study were obtained from the annual reports of RTA statistics from the Central Statistical Organisation of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning. The statistical analysis of data was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

Results: In this study, it was noted that the rate of RTAs, injuries and deaths increased from 16% to 19.5%, from 16.5% to 17.3% and from 16.2% to 20%, respectively, for the years 2015-2019, while the rates of RTAs, injuries and deaths in 2020 recorded a clear decrease compared to the rest of the years under study, and the rates were as follows: 14.8%, 14.4% and 14.1%, respectively. According to the types of traffic accidents, the rate of crashes recorded the highest rate of 51% in all years of the study compared to the run over, overturn and other unclassified accidents, which were 37%, 10% and 2%, respectively, and it was revealed that crashes, run over and other unclassified incidents increased from 5% to 20%, from 17% to 19% and from 18% to 26%, respectively, for the years 2015-2019, whereas all types of RTAs in 2020 were recorded the lowest rates compared to other years under study. Al-Basra, Baghdad, Al-Najaf and Babylon were recorded the highest rates of traffic accidents for the 6 years under study, with a rate of 13.3%, 11.7%, 11.1% and 10.4%, respectively.

Conclusions: Although traffic accidents were not recorded in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the governorates of Nineveh and Anbar due to the occupation of the terrorist Islamic State, traffic accidents maintained their levels due to internal migration. It was also noted that the rate of road accidents was the highest in 2019 compared to the years under study due to the liberation of occupied cities, the return of safety and the return of recording accident data again, while the year 2020 recorded a clear decrease in the rate of road accidents, especially in the first half of it due to the October protests that led to the suspension of all government institutions, universities and schools. The second reason for the decrease in the second half of 2020 is attributed to the lockdown of corona. It seems that the political, security, military and health factors have an effective impact on the traffic reality.