Effects of Motor Vehicle Increase on Environmental Protection Expenditures and Traffic Safety: An Examination Using Grey Relational Analysis Method

Global environmental pollution is increasingly becoming one of today's most pressing issues, and the situation is becoming increasingly alarming day by day due to greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Industrialization and urban growth adversely affect the quality of air, water, and soil, reduce biological diversity, and endanger human health. In this regard, increasing and efficiently using environmental protection expenditures is a crucial criterion for reducing harmful emissions as well as achieving sustainable development goals. The increase in the number of motor vehicles has a significant impact on environmental protection expenditures. Exhaust gases from vehicles are one of the main causes of air pollution, which, especially in large cities, reduces air quality. Increasing air pollution causes health problems as well as environmental damage, forcing governments and local administrations to allocate more financial resources to improve air quality and reduce emissions. In this study, using data obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) for the period 2013-2022, grey relational grades of environmental protection expenditures, greenhouse gas emissions, and the number of road accidents according to the number of motor vehicles were calculated. When examining the grey relational grades, it was observed that the number of motor vehicles is approximately 78% related to environmental protection expenditures, about 95% related to greenhouse gas emissions, and about 98% related to the number of road accidents.