THE INFLUENCE OF METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS ON THE SEVERITY OF ROAD ACCIDENTS

The study is devoted to the analysis of the influence of various weather conditions (atmospheric pressure, air temperature and precipitation) on the severity of road accidents in the city of St. Petersburg. The purpose of the work is to identify patterns between meteorological factors and the severity of the consequences of an accident. The paper uses data analysis methods: descriptive statistics, data visualization, and calculation of the p-value to test hypotheses. The analysis showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the severity distribution of accidents in terms of precipitation. The differences between precipitation regimes and «dry» conditions do not reach significance. There are also no differences in atmospheric pressure (758 — 763 mmHg) (p ≈ 0.8); the high proportion of accidents at «non-normal» pressures reflects the distribution of observations, rather than an increase in severity. The temperature shows a statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.013). To clarify the role of weather, models with higher time details (precipitation intensity, transitions through 0 °C) are needed, taking into account traffic, visibility, road type, and seasonality. In general, an increased risk of severe and fatal accidents is observed at temperatures of 0 — 5 °C and precipitation, especially intense. The findings can be used to adapt urban infrastructure to adverse weather events and develop warning systems for drivers.