Road Traffic Mortality Research Articles

Predictors and burden of injury mortality in the Thai cohort study 2005\u20132015

BackgroundThailand is a high injury burden setting. In 2015 it had the world’s second highest rate of road traffic fatalities. In order to develop strategies to reduce this burden an accurate understanding of the development of injury risk over the life course is essential.MethodsA national cohort of adult Thais was recruited in 2005 (n = 87,151). Participants completed a health questionnaire covering geodemographic, behavioural, health and injury data. Citizen ID numbers were matched with death registration records, identifying deaths from any injury. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to measure associations between baseline exposures and injury deaths between 2005 and 2015.ResultsInjury mortality comprised 363 individuals, the majority (36%) from traffic injuries. Predictors of all-injury mortality were being male (AOR 3.55, 95% CI 2.57–4.89), Southern Thai (AOR 1.52, 95% CI 1.07–2.16), smoking (AOR 1.55, 95% CI 1.16–2.17), depression (AOR 1.78, 95% CI 1.07–2.96), previous injury (AOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.03–1.81) and drink driving history (AOR 1.37, 95%CI 1.02–1.85). Age and region of residence were stronger predictors for men, while anxiety/depression was a stronger predictor for women. Among males in the far south, assault caused the largest proportion of injury mortality, elsewhere traffic injury was most common.ConclusionsThis study identifies that a history of drink driving, but not regular alcohol consumption, increased injury risk. The associations between smoking and depression, and injury mortality also need further consideration.

Comparison of Road Safety Management Systems of Local Governments using Indicators

More than two-thirds of road fatalities in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) occur on roads managed by local governments. There is also a big difference in road traffic death rates between local governments. This study aims to develop indicators to evaluate the current status of road safety management systems (RSMS) of local governments, which can result in different road safety performance. The indicators for RSMS will be categorized into: institutional management, intervention, intermediate outcome, and final outcome. A comparison of those indicators will help local governments to identify the pros and cons of their RSMSs. It will also help to benchmark good practices of other local governments and eventually contribute to reducing the gap of road safety outcomes between local governments. Indicators have been developed for both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The former includes road mortality rates for various road user types and budgets for road safety, and the latter includes the existence of a road safety team and the level of cooperation between relevant organizations. The overall road safety score is calculated based on the weighted sum of the selected indicator scores. The weights are derived through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A comparison of developed indicators between local governments shows many local governments in Korea need to set up a responsible organization for road safety. This comparison will also provide useful information on how the central government can help local governments with low scores.

Road traffic noise, mortality and incidence of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases in Rome

Background/Aim: Transportation noise is among the most important environmental exposures contributing to the burden of disease in Europe. The aim of the study is to assess whether long-term exposure to road traffic noise is associated with mortality and incidence of coronary and cerebrovascular events in the Rome Longitudinal Study.Methods: All city residents at October 21 2001, aged 30 years and over, followed up until 31 December 2015. Lden (db(A)) and NO2 (µg/m3) concentrations were estimated at each residential address (Sound Plan 8.1, Lagrangian microscale model). The association between a 10 (db(A)) increase of Lden and non-accidental mortality, incidence of acute coronary events and stroke was assessed using Cox models adjusted for individual variables, including SEP, and NO2 concentrations (HR, CI95%). We also studied the effect of Lden (low ≤48.1 dB(A), medium 48.1-54.4 dB(A), high ≥54.4 db(A)) in three categories of NO2 concentrations (≤34.4 μg/m3, 34.4-39.9 μg/m3, ≥39.9 μg/m3) Results: 1,263,712 residents were enrolled (55% women, mean age (DS) 55 (15.4), 19% low SEP). The average population exposure levels [mean (SD)] were 53.8 (8.1) dB(A) for Lden, and 41.3 (10.1) µg/m3 for NO2 (ρ=0.47). For all the outcomes, after adjustment for NO2 we failed to find a clear association with traffic noise. However, at medium and high NO2 exposure levels we found an effect at all the noise levels considered: at Lden >54.4 db(A) we found an HR=1.05 (IC95% 1.03-1.07) for non-accidental mortality, HR=1.07 (IC95% 1.00-1.14) for fatal acute coronary events and HR=1.05 (IC95% 1.00-1.11) for stroke incidence. Conclusion: We found an independent effect of noise exposure especially at medium and high NO2 levels. Policies to reduce the exposure of residents and prevent harmful effects on their health are urgent.

Bibliometric analysis of road traffic injuries research in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Background: Despite governmental interventions, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continues to experience higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. This trend suggests a potential disconnect between Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research and the mitigation measures put in place. Method: Here, we present an in-depth bibliometric analysis to obtain a comprehensive understanding of RTI research in the GCC region. The Web of Science database was used to search and retrieve the relevant articles during the period of 1981-2019. Results: The volume of RTI research increased from 2015-2019, suggesting an increased focus on traffic safety in the GCC region. Saudi Arabia had the highest RTI research productivity level (126 publications); Bahrain had the lowest (7 publications). Inconsistent with its low publication volume, Hammad Medical Corps of Qatar had the highest citation impact score of 16.33. Global collaboration for RTI research was highest between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The most prevalent publication journal for the region was Accident Analysis and Prevention. The most common keywords were " road traffic accidents" and " road traffic injuries"; terms such as " mobile phones", " pedestrian safety", " pedestrians", and " distracted driving" were least common. In the five most productive GCC nations with respect to RTI research (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman), researchers tended to publish works related to road traffic safety in traffic safety-oriented journals. Conclusions: The quantity and quality of RTI publications in GCC is insufficient to meet the increasing related public health and economic burden in the region. The trends among publication volumes, citations, and impact were inconsistent. There is a lack of research collaboration among the institutions. Most of the research related to RTI is being conducted by researchers with a medical background. Research focusing on pedestrians, cyclists and road user behavior is also inadequate.

Bibliometric analysis of road traffic injuries research in the Gulf Cooperation Council region

Background: Despite governmental interventions, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continues to experience higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. This trend suggests a potential disconnect between Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research and the mitigation measures put in place. Method: Here, we present an in-depth bibliometric analysis to obtain a comprehensive understanding of RTI research in the GCC region. The Web of Science database was used to search and retrieve the relevant articles during the period of 1981-2019. Results: The volume of RTI research increased from 2015–2019, suggesting an increased focus on traffic safety in the GCC region. Saudi Arabia had the highest RTI research productivity level (126 publications); Bahrain had the lowest (7 publications). Inconsistent with its low publication volume, Hammad Medical Corps of Qatar had the highest citation impact score of 16.33. Global collaboration for RTI research was highest between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The most prevalent publication journal for the region was Accident Analysis and Prevention. The most common keywords were “ road traffic accidents” and “ road traffic injuries”; terms such as “ mobile phones”, “ pedestrian safety”, “ pedestrians”, and “ distracted driving” were least common. In the five most productive GCC nations with respect to RTI research (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman), researchers tended to publish works related to road traffic safety in traffic safety-oriented journals. Conclusions: The quantity and quality of RTI publications in GCC is insufficient to meet the increasing related public health and economic burden in the region. The trends among publication volumes, citations, and impact were inconsistent. There is a lack of research collaboration among the institutions. Most of the research related to RTI is being conducted by researchers with a medical background. Research focusing on pedestrians, cyclists and road user behavior is also inadequate.

Road Traffic Injury deaths and Correlates in Babylon Province: A Cross- Sectional Study

Background: Road traffic accidents were a major health problem especially in low and middle incomecountries including Iraq, head injuries were found to be the most common fatal injuries during trafficaccidents that causing deaths.Objectives: to identify the relationship of road traffic injury deaths with different associated factors and tomeasure the extent of this problem.Methodology: this was a cross-sectional study included a retrospective analysis of the forensic medicinedata presented in the records of forensic medicine department for three years (2017-2019) the period neededto conduct this study started from 1st of February to the end of November,2019 . After the approval of thestudy protocol by the Babylon nursing college health ethical committee , a semi structured questionnaire wasused to collect data according to the descriptive epidemiologic model (person , place, time).Results: The road traffic accidents death rate in Babylon province was unacceptably high, the mean deathsper month due to Road Traffic Injuries was 43,8 and the mean deaths per week was11victims and the crudedeath rate =27/100000 population; Males in their productive age group were outnumbered victims to thispreventable high priority health problem. Urgent interventional plan of action including provision highquality nursing tertiary care should be started to address this growing problem using the available resourcesto promote the critical care skills among health care providers and to reduce medical errors.

Road traffic mortality in Russia: definitions, trends and perspectives

In 2016, the crude death rate from road traffic accidents in Russia decreased, according to police data, to a level not observed since 1971, after which it continued to decline. The positive trends apparently served as the basis for the optimistic goals laid down in the Road Safety Strategy for 2018-2024. 
 Based on police data, vital statistics on mortality and international databases on mortality and road safety, the authors try to answer these questions: Are the goals set achievable within the specified timeframe, and how consistent are they with European trends in road traffic mortality, as well as with Russia's present differentiation of road traffic mortality by space, age and category of road users? 
 The study showed that the deadlines for achieving targets in the Road Safety Strategy are very tight. Today, only large and medium-sized cities have the potential to implement a new Road Safety Strategy in which the crude death rate should not exceed 1.5-2 deaths per 100 thousand people by 2024, whereas in small cities and rural settlements - 2.5-3 deaths per 100 thousand people. For many years, the main risk groups have been drivers and passengers aged 15-44 and pedestrians over 60 years old, who do not appear in the Road Safety Strategy as priority categories.
 In addition, the article shows that in order to eliminate the existing discrepancies between the numbers of deaths published by the two official reporting systems (the police and Rosstat), the very first step might be for Rosstat to stop calculating the number of road traffic deaths based on the current version of the abridged classification of causes of death and transition to one of the two international approaches for aggregating three-digit codes of causes of death used by the WHO.

Bibliometric analysis of road traffic injuries research in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Background: Despite governmental interventions, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continues to experience higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. This trend suggests a potential disconnect between Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research and the mitigation measures put in place. Method: Here, we present an in-depth bibliometric analysis to obtain a comprehensive understanding of RTI research in the GCC region. The Web of Science database was used to search and retrieve the relevant articles during the period of 1981-2019. Results: The volume of RTI research increased from 2015-2019, suggesting an increased focus on traffic safety in the GCC region. Saudi Arabia had the highest RTI research productivity level (126 publications); Bahrain had the lowest (7 publications). Inconsistent with its low publication volume, Hammad Medical Corps of Qatar had the highest citation impact score of 16.33. Global collaboration for RTI research was highest between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The most prevalent publication journal for the region was Accident Analysis and Prevention. The most common keywords were " road traffic accidents" and " road traffic injuries"; terms such as " mobile phones", " pedestrian safety", " pedestrians", and " distracted driving" were least common. In the five most productive GCC nations with respect to RTI research (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman), researchers tended to publish works related to road traffic safety in traffic safety-oriented journals. Conclusions: The quantity and quality of RTI publications in GCC is insufficient to meet the increasing related public health and economic burden in the region. The trends among publication volumes, citations, and impact were inconsistent. There is a lack of research collaboration among the institutions. Most of the research related to RTI is being conducted by researchers with a medical background. Research focusing on pedestrians, cyclists and road user behavior is also inadequate.

Road traffic mortality in North Chennai – An autopsy based study

An accident is an unplanned event that results in injury, deaths, damage to property or some other losses. For statistical purpose, Accidental Deaths have been classified as deaths that could be due to forces/factors of the nature which have been termed as ‘Natural Accidental Deaths’ or could be due to deliberate or negligent conduct of human beings, which is termed as ‘Un-natural Accidental Deaths’ or due to causes not covered in the above two categories and with no initial apparent cause of deaths which have been categorised as ‘Other Causes of Deaths’ like poisoning, sudden death etc. (1) India has a well-knit and coordinated system of transport which plays an important role in development of economic activities by promoting fair distribution of produced goods and services. The share of transport sector in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is steadily growing. It is one of the key indicators in assessment of socio-economic development of the country. Tamil Nadu has reported for 9.8% of total deaths in traffic accidents reported at all India level in the year 2015. (1) The present study was conducted to analyze the socio-demographic and clinical profile of deaths due to road accidents which were brought to the Department of Forensic Medicine for autopsy during the year 2019. Road traffic accidents is a well-known causative and contributer to a high number of mortality and morbidity. Urbanisation leading to widening of roads, increase in motor vehicles are among the few contributing factors to the increase in number of road accidents. Males in the productive age group being the most common victims is also a well documented fact. In this study, we observed a high number of fatalities in the National highways and the service roads connecting the nearby villages. Also we observed maximum fatalities in accidents that occurred in the mid – day and evening when they are mostly on their way back home from work. Apart from strict regulations, it is the in

Epidemiologic study of traffic crash mortality among motorcycle users in Iran (2011–2017)

PurposeMotorcycle accident is a major cause of road traffic injuries and the motorcyclists are considered as vulnerable road users. The present study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of fatal motorcycle crashes in Iran. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a total of 28,356 motorcycle traffic fatalities registered in the Legal Medicine Organization of Iran were analyzed during the period between March 2011 and March 2017. The examined variables included demographic characteristics, helmet use, crash mechanisms, crash location, position state, type of counterpart vehicle, cause of death and place of death. In the study, road traffic mortalities involving drivers and/or passenger of motorcycles were included. Cases or events registered without these conditions were excluded from the study. To analyse the data, SPSS statistics 25 and GraphPad Prism 8 softwares were used. ResultsOf the 122,682 fatal traffic injury cases, 28,356 (23.1%) were motorcycle users, of whom 95.3% were male and 4.7% were female. Most of the motorcycle fatalities belonged to the age group of 18–24 years (29.1%). Head trauma was the major cause of death (59.0%). Also, the overall proportion of safety helmet use among motorcycle crash victims was estimated at 37.4%. Most of the road traffic crash cases (46.8%) happened out of city and half of people (49.9%) died in hospital. About 77.4% of the victims were motorcycle riders and 21.1% were pillion passengers. The highest rate of mortality belonged to the self-employed (38.4%) and then workers (21.8%) and students (10.2%). In addition, most fatalities occurred in people with low education (77.5%) and the least occurred in university graduates (5.5%). Among 31 provinces of Iran, Fars had the highest (9.3%) occurrence rate and Kohgiluyeh and Buyer-Ahmad had the lowest (0.5%). Most of the crash mechanisms were due to motorcycle-vehicle crashes (80.2%), followed by rollover (9.8%). ConclusionComprehensive public education and special rules are needed to reduce the rate of deaths in motorcycle crashes.

Reduction of pedestrian death rates: a missed global target

BackgroundThe UN Decade of Action for Road Safety aimed to reduce road traffic deaths by half by year 2020. We aimed to study risk factors affecting global pedestrian death rates overtime, and whether the defined target of its reduction by WHO has been achieved.MethodsThe studied variables were retrieved from the WHO Global Status Reports on Road Safety published over 2010–2018. These covered years 2007–2016 and included the estimated road traffic death rates per 100,000 population, policies to promote walking and cycling, enforcement levels of national speed limits, the gross national income per capita and the vehicle/person ratio in each country. A mixed linear model was performed to define the factors affecting the change of pedestrian death rates overtime.ResultsGlobal pedestrian mortality decreased by 28% over 10 years. This was significant between years 2007 and 2010 (p = 0.034), between years 2013 and 2016 (p = 0.002) but not between 2010 and 2013 (p = 0.06). Factors that reduced pedestrian death rates included time (p < 0.0001), GNI (p < 0.0001), and vehicle/person ratio (p < 0.0001). There was a significant drop overtime in both the middle-income, and high-income countries (p < 0.0001, Friedman test), but not in the low-income countries (p = 0.35, Friedman test).ConclusionsGlobal pedestrian mortality has dropped by 28% over a recent decade, which is less than the 50% targeted reduction. This was mainly driven by improved GNI and using more vehicles. The economical gap between poor and rich countries has a major impact on pedestrian death rates.

Long-term residential road traffic noise and mortality in a Danish cohort

Transportation noise is a growing public health concern worldwide and epidemiological evidence has linked road traffic noise with mortality. However, incongruent effect estimates have been reported between incidence and mortality studies.Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate whether long-term exposure to residential road traffic noise at the most and least exposed façades was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, respiratory, or cancer mortality in a Danish cohort study.In a cohort of 52,758 individuals from Copenhagen and Aarhus, we estimated road traffic noise at the most and least exposed façades, as well as ambient air pollution, at all present and historical residential addresses from 1987 to 2016. Using the Danish cause of death register we identified cause-specific mortality. Analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazards models.Ten-year time-weighted mean road traffic noise exposure at the most exposed façade was associated with an 8% higher risk for all-cause mortality per interquartile range (IQR; 10.4 dB) higher exposure level (95% CI: 1.05–1.11). Higher risks were also observed for CVD (HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.06–1.19) and stroke (HR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.99–1.25) mortality. Road traffic noise at the least exposed façade (per IQR; 8.4 dB) was associated with CVD (HR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03–1.15), IHD (HR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01–1.21) and stroke (HR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.95–1.19) mortality. Results were robust to adjustment for PM2.5 and NO2.In conclusion, this study adds to the body of evidence linking exposure to road traffic noise with higher risk of mortality.

A Support Vector Machine Approach in Predicting Road Traffic Mortality in Malaysia

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The traffic mortality rate is the baseline through which road safety plans of a country could be evaluated. A reliable and reasonable analysis of road traffic-related injuries and their leading causes is vital to the road safety investigation, evaluation as well as policymaking. Malaysia has the third highest fatality rate from road traffic accidents in Asia as well as in Southeast Asia. Although many researchers have attempted to provide predictive models of Road Traffic Mortality (RTM) in the country, the predictions are found to be rather unsatisfactory in forecasting the causes as well as the future road fatality. It is hypothesized that the inability of the previous models to provide a good prediction of the RTM might be attributed to the complicated and non-linear data relationship of the underlying causes of road traffic accidents. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) is demonstrated to be effective in solving both classifications as well as regression problems owing to its efficacy to cater for the non-linear relationship of a dataset. The present investigation proposed the application of SVM based model variations namely the Linear, Quadratic, Cubic, Fine, Medium, as well as Coarse Gaussian-based SVM in predicting the RTM. A dataset from 1972 to 1994 was obtained from the Malaysian road traffic database. The data were trained on the SVM model variations. It was demonstrated that the Linear-based SVM model can provide a reasonable prediction of the RTM with only a 12 % error. It is, therefore, inferred that a reasonable prediction of RTM in Malaysia could be achieved through the employment of non-conventional statistical techniques.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

The Lack of First Aid Skills as a Contributing Factor of High Road Traffic Fatality Rates in the Russian Federation

Background: The Russian Federation is among the countries with the highest road traffic fatality rates in the WHO European Region. One of the main reasons for that is the personal attitude of traffic participants to safety that includes medical illiteracy and unpreparedness to render first aid to the injured. Our objective was to study failure to give quick and competent first aid as one of the possible causes of road traffic deaths in the Russian Federation and to identify potential ways of improving the situation. Materials and methods: In May-September 2018, in January and June 2019, we conducted a survey of 403 Russian citizens (284 men and 119 women) having a driver’s license and driving experience in different Russian regions including the Volgograd Region, the Krasnodar Krai, the Rostov Region, Moscow, etc. The respondents were asked to answer the questions about first aid training courses in driving schools, prior involvement in road traffic accidents, and first aid techniques. Results: Most of the respondents (63%) reported having had first aid training courses at driving schools given by driving instructors and almost a quarter of the respondents (23%) reported having never had such courses at all. Approximately 68% of the survey participants had no first aid training using dummies. About 17% witnessed traffic collisions and provided at least some level of first aid while almost 14% could not give any help due to the stressful situation or fear to do harm to the injured. We then calculated the number of correct and complete answers rated 1 and 2 points according to the estimation scale and drew a control chart of the average value. The analysis of the control chart showed that 331 of 403 participants (82%) passed our test. Conclusions: Although the results were not as bad as might have been expected, significant gaps in basic first aid knowledge did exist: some respondents failed to answer the questions correctly. Given that in addition to theoretical knowledge the person should be able to use this knowledge decisively and calmly, without panic and the fear of blood, the percentage of those who can really help is even lower. First aid training courses in driving schools shall be mandatory and must be given by medical professionals. Governmental regulatory authorities should pay special attention to this issue when licensing. At the same time, more emphasis should be placed on first aid training in educational institutions (kindergartens, schools, colleges, and universities). In addition, we recommend compulsory first aid training of professional drivers of commercial vehicles.

Study on the strength of converted school pick-up truck’s roof in case of rollover accidents

In 2015, it has been reported that road traffic fatality rate in Thailand ranks number 2 in the world at 36.2 per 100,000 with an annual estimate of 66 deaths every day. Based on the survey of the Road Safety Group Thailand in 2017, at least one student got injury by school transport each day. A recent survey also revealed that the number of private hire pick-up trucks as school buses in Thailand, especially in upcountry areas, is increasing due to its lower cost in comparison to that of a van or a minibus. To get the optimal capacity as vans or minibuses, pick-up trucks’ roofs were converted for the highest passenger number at the lowest cost. Therefore, to focus on the strength of converted pick-up truck’s roof is required to help reduce losses in terms of both human injury and inside cabin’s damage due to rollover accidents. This article demonstrates an approach to design the vehicle’s roof as a superstructure of school pick-up truck based on design inputs, including structural strength, capability of local motor vehicle mechanics, nature of drivers, and nature of passengers. Explicit dynamic finite element analysis is applied to simulate the investigation on full-scale prototype according to American Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No 220 standard. To validate the numerical analysis results, the roof crush test of full-scale roof prototype is performed. The analysis results showed the accurate prediction on the strength and the corresponding deformations of the full-scale prototype. These findings provide means of evaluating the strength of vehicle’s roof, which can be further applied as a guideline for national regulation. This study is planned to bring this tried prototype: the superstructure of school pick-up truck’s roof, to use in a commercial scale.

Decreasing Trends in Road Traffic Injury Incidence and Mortality in Nigeria: A Ten-Year Analysis

BackgroundRoad traffic accidents constitute a significant public health burden in Nigeria. In this study, we aim to (1) characterize the temporal burden of road traffic injury (RTI) and mortality rates in Nigeria over a decade, (2) identify regional RTI incidence, mortality trends, and high-risk regions, and (3) assess the impact of state population on injury and mortality. Materials and methodsWe retrospectively reviewed aggregate state-level RTI incidence and mortality counts reported by the Federal Road Safety Corps from January 2001 through December 2010. We also reviewed population data from the National Population Commission. In addition to national analyses, regional analyses were performed in Nigeria's six geopolitical zones and one Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Regression analysis was also performed to determine the relationship between population and RTI incidence and mortality. ResultsThe national median RTI incidence and mortality rates declined by 53% and 75%, respectively, between 2001 and 2010. Analysis by geopolitical zone yielded the greatest increases for both injury and mortality in the FCT and the greatest decreases for both in the South-South region. The average geopolitical zone, apart from the FCT, experienced a 24% decrease in the incidence rate and a 69% decrease in the mortality rate. An analysis of variance, run to assess potential differences in RTI incidence and mortality rates by state population, yielded significant values of P = 0.0023 for injury and P = 0.0002 for mortality. ConclusionsAcknowledging the potential for underreporting, a more holistic surveillance approach would generate more accurate data for future policy creation to improve clinical outcomes.

Safe mobility, socioeconomic inequalities, and aging: A 12-year multilevel interrupted time-series analysis of road traffic death rates in a Latin American country.

As the resources for road safety in developing countries are scarce and unevenly distributed, vulnerable road users -such as the elderly- may be particularly at risk of road traffic deaths. To date, the impact of road safety measures over the rate of road traffic deaths in older adults (60 years or older), considering the within-country socioeconomic inequalities, has not been explored in developing nations. This study takes the Chilean case as an example -with its 2005 traffic law reform as one of the road safety measures investigated-, in which open data available from official national sources for all its 13 regions over the 2002–2013 period were used for a multilevel interrupted time-series analysis. A statistically significant secular reduction of the rates of road traffic deaths in the elderly population was found (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.91 to 0.99), but no evidence for a significant intercept or slope change after the traffic law reform was observed. Regions with the highest number of traffic offenses prosecuted in local police courts had lower rates of road traffic deaths in older adults (IRR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.00), and those regions in the third (IRR 1.61, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.25) and the fifth (IRR 1.66, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.54) quintiles of socioeconomic deprivation had higher rates of road traffic deaths in the elderly. Such findings strongly support the conceptualization of the road safety of seniors in developing countries as a social equity issue, with implications for the design of traffic regulations and road environments.

Temporal patterns of bird mortality due to road traffic collisions in a Mediterranean region

ABSTRACT Capsule: There was significant variation on the incidence of road traffic mortality across bird species, due to seasonal and weather effects but also due to differences between years. Aims: To assess patterns of mortality due to traffic collision for six common bird species over a period of nine years in relation to seasonality and weather. Methods: Road mortality surveys were performed on four road sections from 2005 to 2013 in southern Portugal. The analysis controlled for survey frequency, and carcass persistence and detectability. Results: Overall, bird mortality decreased over time and was generally higher during spring and summer months. The lack of strong relationships between the weather variables and the observed mortality patterns suggests the existence of additional factors important in explaining the observed trends. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that bird mortality due to collision with vehicles may change between years and was highest during the breeding season. This could have population consequences, and highlights the need to further address large temporal scales in roadkill research.

Establishment of a road traffic trauma registry for northern Sri Lanka

Road traffic injuries are a neglected global public health problem. Over 1.25 million people are killed each year, and middle-income countries, which are motorising rapidly, are the hardest hit. Sri...

Recognizing Traffic Black Spots From Street View Images Using Environment-Aware Image Processing and Neural Network

This paper proposes a novel technique to identify black spots (prone-to-accident road locations) using street view images. The proposed technique is derived based on the hypothesis that the characteristics of the surroundings of the road have an effect on the safety level of a particular spot, and is the first black spot classification technique that is fully environment-aware. Assessing four street view images around each spot, a distance-aware pixel accumulation is developed to extract information about the objects surrounding the road from a semantically segmented image. The accumulated vectors are then used to train fully-connected neural networks to identify black spots. Performance evaluations are conducted with street view images in Thailand, which represent a challenging scenario of analyzing road characteristics in developing countries, with one of the highest road traffic fatality rates and limited historical accident records. Comparisons between our proposed technique and previously proposed techniques are also provided. Experiments show that our proposed technique succeeds in classifying black and safe spots in Thailand with an accuracy of 69.91%, where 75.86% of the black spots are identified correctly. Also, the distance-aware pixel accumulation can improve the accuracy of those machine learning techniques up to 6.4%. Our findings also evidently revealed that the object surrounding the roads as well as their sizes and distances are determinants of road's accident proneness.