PURPOSES : This study empirically examines the determinants of traffic accidents by focusing on the transport culture index. METHODS : Two-stage least-squares estimation using an instrumental variable is used as the identification strategy. As the instrumental variable of the transport culture index, its past values, particularly before the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2018 are used. RESULTS : The empirical results, considering the potential endogeneity of the transport culture index, show that areas with higher values of the index are likely to have fewer traffic accident casualties. Local governments of regions with relatively frequent traffic accidents can run campaigns for residents to fasten their seatbelts, causing reverse causation. Ignoring this type of endogeneity underestimates the importance of the index as a key determinant of traffic accidents. CONCLUSIONS : Several traffic accidents occur in Korea, e.g., 203,130 accidents with 291,608 injuries and 5,392 deaths. As traffic accidents cause social costs, such as delays in traffic flow and damage to traffic facilities, public interventions are required to reduce them. However, the first step in public intervention is to accurately understand the relationship between the degree of damage in traffic accidents and the transport-related attributes of the areas where the accidents occurred. Although the transport culture index appears to be an appropriate indicator for predicting local traffic accidents, its limitations as a comprehensive index need to be addressed in the future.

본 연구는 교통안전공단과 사단법인 녹색교통운동이 공동으로 개발한 교통문화지수와 관련한 2002년과 2003년의 전국 81개 도시 자료를 토대로 통계적 분석을 행하여 이들 대상도시들을 유형화하고, 집단별 영향요인에 근거하여 교통사고 예방대책들을 제시하고자 하였다. 먼저 교통문화지수와 영향요인들에 대한 주성분분석 결과로는 4개의 주성분으로 구분 지울 수 있었으며, 도시 특성별 최적 집단 수는 4개가 적합한 것으로 나타났다. 또한 이들 유형화된 집단별 교통문화지수에의 영향요인을 단계별 다중 회귀분석법을 이용하여 분석한 결과, 4개 집단 모두 높은 설명력을 갖는 회귀모형을 구축할 수 있었다. 이에 따라 각 집단별 교통사고 예방대책들을 구체적으로 제시할 수 있었으며, 아울러 투자된 시설이 얼마나 교통사고 예방에 효과적이었는가를 분석할 필요성이 있음을 향후의 연구 과제로 제시하였다.