Criminological characteristics of traffic accident victims

Abstract

The article analyzes the level, structure, and dynamics of road traffic accidents with casualties, fatalities, and injuries for 2012-2023 years in Ukraine. A stable general trend towards a decrease in the number of road accidents with victims (- 64.4%), as well as the number of dead (- 44.1%) and injured (- 66.0%) over the specified period, which is mainly related to incomplete accounting of statistical data that do not come from temporarily occupied territories and territories where hostilities are taking place. There was no noticeable improvement in the safety situation in the field of road traffic. In 2023 year, the number of road accident victims will increase, especially among children and pedestrians. Most often, accidents result in serious injuries or death are drivers (40.7%) and passengers (32.7%), as well as pedestrians (20.7%) and cyclists (5.7%) are most often seriously injured or killed in accidents. By age, people aged 21-64 dominate, followed by children from birth to 15 years old - 7.8%, people from 65 years and older - 6.2%, and 16-17-year-olds - 4.8%. New road users have appeared, namely: military personnel, volunteers, members of the territorial defense, who often create emergencies on the roads or become victims of road accidents. In the conditions of a protracted war, there is an increase in manifestations of victim behavior among road users, and at the same time, the discipline of vehicle drivers is decreasing. The largest number of dead and injured in road accidents fixed in the frontline regions and the capital. The situation in the western part of Ukraine stabilized. Infrastructural, psychological and behavioral factors related to war have a significant influence on the victimization of the population. About half of pedestrians and a third of cyclists killed or seriously injured through their own fault, ignoring safety rules. Motorcyclists, drivers of scooters, electric scooters, who move along the roadway without protective helmets in the dark are in the zone of increased risk. The number of road users vulnerable to accidents is rapidly increasing due to the low-mobility population groups affected by the war. This should be taken into account by the state in the new road safety strategy.