Analysis of traffic accident rates during the Covid-19 pandemic in Gorontalo City

Traffic accidents are something that everyone wants to avoid but sometimes there are still many traffic accidents that suddenly occur caused by poor road infrastructure or the negligence of each road user himself. The data used in this study is the number of the accident in 2018-2021 based on the number of accidents and the number of human victims (FK, SI, MI). The results of the analysis of the traffic accident rate show that the number of accidents in 2018 was 108 events with a percentage of 27%, in 2019 there were 158 events with a percentage of 39%, in 2020 there were 87 events with a percentage of 21% and in 2021 there were 55 events with a percentage of 13%. The most traffic accidents occurred in 2019 with the number of victims who died were 19 victims with a percentage of 11%, victims who suffered serious injuries as many as 1 with a percentage of the situation was 5% and victims who suffered minor injuries were 157 victims with a percentage of 88%. Whereas in 2020 the number of traffic accidents decreased with a total of 121 victims with the percentage of FK victims being 13%, SI victims being 3% and MI victims being 84%.


INTRODUCTION
Traffic accidents are the main indicator of the level of road safety. In both developed and developing countries, road safety issues are a matter of great concern in order to reduce the number of accidents that occur. This becoming to the main indicator of the importance of understanding the characteristics of accidents (Simamora, 2011). Traffic accidents are something that everyone wants to avoid but sometimes there are still many traffic accidents that suddenly occur caused by poor road infrastructure or the negligence of each road user himself. Traffic accidents are something that often happens every year. One of the areas where traffic accidents often occur is in Gorontalo City. According to Gopos (2020) in 2019, the number of traffic accidents in Gorontalo increased by 158 cases. Of the 158 cases, 17 people died and 15 people suffered minor and serious injuries. Traffic accidents usually occur for several reasons, namely: 1) The lack of cautious while driving, usually caused by a sleepy driver, 2) Damaged and unrepaired road conditions, 3) Vehicle factors that cause frequent accidents include tire bursts, brakes not working properly, and wornout equipment not being replaced. 4) Weather factors such as rainy weather that affects vehicle performance, smoky and foggy weather that can interfere with the driver's visibility. 5) Lack of road infrastructure.
In addition, traffic jam is also one of the main factors that cause the traffic accidents. The occurrence of traffic jam is a result of an imbalance in the existing traffic network, namely the accumulation of vehicles that causes traffic density on a certain road network to be high so that the existing traffic flow becomes stagnation and even stops (Indri, 2020). During this pandemic, the traffic jam in Gorontalo is reduced because people still spend a lot of time at home due to the implementation of the New Normal system. All employees including the company employees, teachers and students are still being sent home in accordance with government recommendations to suppress cases of Covid-19 transmission. This reduces the number of traffic accidents in Gorontalo City. According to the Head of Traffic at the Gorontalo Police, the number of traffic accidents in Gorontalo City during January-August 2020 decreased compared to the same period in 2019 with 52 cases.

Traffic Accidents
The definition of accident according to the Traffic and Road Transport Law no. 22 of 2009 is "Traffic Accident is an incident on the road that is unexpected and unintentional involving a Vehicle with or without other Road Users which results in human casualties and/or property loss."

Traffic Accidents Classification
According to Putri (2014) the notion of a traffic accident is an unexpected, unplanned, and expected accident that occurs on the highway or as a result of the error of a human activity on the highway, which results in injury, illness, harm to humans, goods and the environment. While the victims of traffic accidents are humans who become victims of traffic accidents, based on the severity of the accident victims are divided into 3 types, namely: 1). The victim who dies (Fatally Killed), 2). The victims who seriously injured (Severely Injured), 3). The victims who has minor injuries (Minor Injuries). Traffic accidents influences by three main factors, namely human factors, vehicle factors, and road factors. There are also other factors such as environmental factors and weather factors that can also contribute to accidents.

Research Stages
The first step is a preliminary study, followed by identification of problems followed by setting research objectives and reviewing the literature, collecting data, namely secondary data obtained from data from relevant agencies, this aims to determine the parameters that will be used in this study. In this study, accident data were obtained from the Gorontalo City Traffic Office data.

Location
This study was conducted in the Gorontalo City area during the pandemic, because according to surveys and data obtained during the pandemic the traffic accident rate decreased due to the lack of road users during the pandemic which result the absent of traffic jam.

Based on Number of Traffic Accident Cases
The incidence of traffic accidents in Gorontalo City in 2018 to 2019 has increased and in 2019 to 2021 it has begun to decrease. The increase and decrease of numbers can be caused by vehicle ownership which continues to increase every year and is accompanied by the development of roads and facilities that support road users in driving. The total number of traffic accidents that occurred between 2018-2019 was 408 cases.    Based on the graph above, it can be seen that the victims of traffic accidents in 2018 with victims of Death (FK) as many as 12%, victims of Serious Injury (SI) is 4% and victims of Minor Injury (MI) around 84%. Then in 2019 the victims of traffic accidents who died decreased to 11%, but for victims who suffered serious injuries increased by 5% and victims who suffered minor injuries as much as 88%. In 2020 the number of victims who died was 13%, for victims who suffered serious injuries was 3% and victims suffered minor injuries was 84%. In 2021, 9% of victims died due to traffic accidents, 1% of victims who suffered serious injuries and 90% of victims who suffered minor injuries. Based on the graph, it can be seen that in the last 4 years the most victims were victims who suffered minor injuries due to traffic accidents with an average percentage of 86.5%.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the several analyzes of the level of traffic accidents in Gorontalo City, it can be concluded that: 1) The number of accidents in 2018 was 108 events with a percentage of 27%, in 2019 there were 158 events with a percentage of 39%, in 2020 there were 87 events with a percentage of 21% and in 2021 there were 55 events with a percentage of 13%. 2) The most traffic accidents occurred in 2019 with the number of victims who died were 19 victims with a percentage of 11%, victims who suffered serious injuries as many as 1 with a percentage of the situation was 5% and victims who suffered minor injuries were 157 victims with a percentage of 88 %. Whereas in 2020 the number of traffic accidents decreased with a total of 121 victims with the percentage of FK victims being 13%, SI victims being 3% and MI victims being 84%. This is due to the fact that in 2020 the Indonesian government implemented social restrictions or PSBB to suppress the spread of the corona virus, thereby reducing congestion on the streets.