Road tunnel safety and accidents of the tunnel: Case of Trabzon-Gumushane road

Tunnels as an engineering solution, have been used frequently both in intercity and urban transportation in worldwide due to their usefulness to overcome natural obstacles, to protect the road from negative environmental effects (avalanche, rockfall, etc.) and to increase traffic volume, accessibility and to save travel time. As tunnels become widespread in both urban and intercity transportation, drivers will start to spend most of their driving time in highway tunnels. Therefore, it will become more and more important to ensure that drivers can drive their vehicles comfortably and safely in the tunnels. In this study, 19 tunnels, which make up about 100 km of the Trans-European road network and are located on the Trabzon-Gumushane highway route, in line with the Trans-European minimum safety requirements and with the help of different scenarios in terms of driving safety, vehicles, drivers, tunnel infrastructure and tunnel operation elements were examined separately. Based on the increasing number and kilometer of tunnels, the accidents that occurred in these tunnels were examined in terms of traffic safety. For this purpose, other relevant data, especially the number of tunnel accidents between 2005 and 2018, were obtained from the General Directorate of Security (EGM) and traffic accidents in the tunnels were examined. In addition, a survey was conducted with 491 people in order to measure the behavior and movement abilities of road users using this route in existing tunnels and under possible accident situations. Chi-square, Bartlett tests and reliability analysis were applied on the survey results to investigate whether there were valid relationship between the groups. As a result, it has been found that restricting the transportation of dangerous goods on the route is important in terms of fire safety. Alternative routes have been proposed for tunnels (length ≥1000 m) that are at risk of fire. In addition, as a result of the survey study it was found out that; the familiarity increased with the increase in the frequency of tunnel use and the rate of vehicle speed reduction in tunnel crossings decreased, there was a significant relationship between gender and the feeling of anxiety experienced in tunnel crossings, and the users mostly experienced vision problems when transitioning from open road (light) to tunnel (dark), and there was a positive relationship between the increase in education level and correct movement in the tunnel during the emergency and normal driving moments. In the light of this information, especially it is thought that the thesis will be an exemplary application for tunnel crossings that are frequently encountered in the North-South Anatolia axis.