Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Oct 2016
Road traffic accidents and self-reported Portuguese car driver's attitudes, behaviors, and opinions: Are they related?
This study aims to characterize Portuguese car drivers in terms of demographic characteristics, driving experience, and attitudes, opinions, and behaviors concerning road traffic safety. Furthermore, associations between these characteristics and self-reported involvement in a road traffic accident as a driver in the last 3 years were analyzed. A final goal was to develop a final predictive model of the risk of suffering a road traffic accident. ⋯ The results obtained with regard to behavioral factors meet the majority of the risk factors associated with car accidents referred to in the literature. This study highlights the relation of relatively minor accidents (the majority with no injuries) with an urban (or semi-urban) context and involving older drivers. These accidents are not usually the focus of road safety literature (mainly death and serious health loss) but, in addition to the economic costs involved, they can have a huge impact on road safety (e.g., pedestrian). Specifically, the following interventions can be proposed: more detailed clinical examinations to identify real competencies to drive especially in older drivers (active aging can constitute a new challenge in road safety and new paradigms can arise) and education campaigns on how to cope with fatigue. Future studies in large samples and not based on self-reported behaviors should be developed.
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Road traffic mortality takes an enormous toll in every society. Transport safety interventions play a crucial role in improving the situation. In the period 1996-2014 several road safety measures, including a complex new road traffic law in 2009, were implemented in the Slovak Republic, introducing stricter conditions for road users. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the trends in road user mortality in the Slovak Republic in individual age groups by sex during the study period 1996-2014. ⋯ The implementation of the new traffic regulations may have contributed significantly to the observed decrease in mortality rates of road users in the Slovak Republic. A significant decrease in mortality was observed in all population groups and in all groups of road users. The introduction of a new comprehensive road traffic law may have expedited the decrease of road fatalities, especially in the age group 25-64 years old. This type of evidence-based epidemiology data can be used for improved targeting of future public health measures for road traffic injury prevention.
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Traffic injury prevention · Oct 2016
Potentially preventable prehospital deaths from motor vehicle collisions.
In 2011, about 30,000 people died in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in the United States. We sought to evaluate the causes of prehospital deaths related to MVCs and to assess whether these deaths were potentially preventable. ⋯ Nationally, FARS data demonstrated that two thirds of all MVC deaths occurred within 1 h of injury. Over a third of prehospital MVC deaths were potentially preventable in our local sample. By examining injury patterns in PPDs, targeted intervention may be initiated.
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Traffic injury prevention · Oct 2016
Cross-sectional study of road accidents and related law enforcement efficiency for 10 countries: A gap coherence analysis.
Road crashes are considered as the eighth leading causes of death. There is a wide disparity in crash severity and law enforcement efficiency among low-, medium-, and high-income countries. It would be helpful to review the crash severity trends in these countries, identify the vulnerable road users, and understand the law enforcement effectiveness in devising efficient road safety improvement strategies. ⋯ Efficient law enforcement and effective safety education taking into account cultural diversity are the key aspects to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities in low-income countries like India.