Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Road accident rates: strategies and programmes for improving road traffic safety

European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery volume 42, pages 433–438 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction

Nowadays, the problem of road accident rates is one of the most important health and social policy issues concerning the countries in all continents. Each year, nearly 1.3 million people worldwide lose their life on roads, and 20–50 million sustain severe injuries, the majority of which require long-term treatment.

Discussion

The objective of the study was to identify the most frequent, constantly occurring causes of road accidents, as well as outline actions constituting a basis for the strategies and programmes aiming at improving traffic safety on local and global levels. Comparative analysis of literature concerning road safety was performed, confirming that although road accidents had a varied and frequently complex background, their causes have changed only to a small degree over the years. The causes include: lack of control and enforcement concerning implementation of traffic regulation (primarily driving at excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and not respecting the rights of other road users (mainly pedestrians and cyclists), lack of appropriate infrastructure and unroadworthy vehicles.

Conclusions

The number of fatal accidents and severe injuries, resulting from road accidents, may be reduced through applying an integrated approach to safety on roads. The strategies and programmes for improving road traffic should include the following measures: reducing the risk of exposure to an accident, prevention of accidents, reduction in bodily injuries sustained in accidents, and reduction of the effects of injuries by improvement of post-accident medical care.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Goniewicz M, Nogalski A, Khayesi M, Lübek T, Zuchora B, Goniewicz K, Miśkiewicz P. Pattern of road traffic injuries in Lublin County. Pol Cent Eur J Public Health. 2012;20(2):116–20.

    Google Scholar 

  2. World Health Organization. WHO global status report on road safety 2013: supporting a decade of action. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2013. http://www.un.org/en/roadsafety/pdf/roadsafety2013_eng.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Schmidt CW, et al. Characteristics of drivers involved in single-car accidents: a comparative study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1972;27(6):800–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Larsson P, Dekker SW, Tingvall C. The need for a systems theory approach to road safety. Saf Sci. 2010;48(9):1167–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Zimmer A. Uber Automobilverletzungen. Dtsch Z Chir. 1908;95:157–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yang KH, et al. Development of numerical models for injury biomechanics research: a review of 50 years of publications in the Stapp Car Crash Conference. Stapp Car Crash J. 2006;1(50):429–90.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Straith CL. Automobile injuries. JAMA. 1937;109:940–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chan CC. The state of the art of electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. Proc IEEE. 2007;95(4):704–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Nader R. Unsafe at any speed: the designed-in dangers of the American automobile. 1965. Am J Public Health. 2011;101(2):254–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Haddon W Jr. The changing approach to the epidemiology, prevention, and amelioration of trauma: the transition to approaches etiologically rather than descriptively based. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1968;58(8):1431–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Haddon W Jr. The changing approach to the epidemiology, prevention, and amelioration of trauma: the transition to approaches etiologically rather than descriptively based. 1968. Inj Prev. 1999;5(3):231–5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Haddon W Jr. Advances in the epidemiology of injuries as a basis for public policy. Public Health Rep. 1980;95(5):411–21.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Richter ED, et al. Speed, road injury, and public health. Annu Rev Public Health. 2006;27:125–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Reddy KS. The essentials of forensic medicine and toxicology. J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol. 2005;5:53.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kang, et al. Crash simulations of wheelchair-occupant systems in transport. J Rehabil Res Dev. 1998;35(1):73–84.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Campbell JE. International Trauma Life Support. Medycyna Praktyczna: Ratownictwo przedszpitalne w urazach. Kraków; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  17. European Road Assessment Programme.2015. http://eurorap.org. Accessed 19 Jan 2015.

  18. Hussain LM, Redmond AD. Are pre-hospital deaths from accidental injury preventable? BMJ. 1994;308(6936):1077–80.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Yang J. Review of injury biomechanics in car-pedestrian collisions. Int J Veh Saf. 2005;1(1):100–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Santamariña-Rubio E, Pérez K, Ricart I, Arroyo A, Castellà J, Borrell C. Injury profiles of road traffic deaths. Accid Anal Prev. 2007;39(1):1–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Theofilatos A, Graham D, Yannis G. Factors affecting accident severity inside and outside urban areas in Greece. Traffic Inj Prev. 2012;13(5):458–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Puvanachandra P, Hoe C, El-Sayed HF, Saad R, Al-Gasseer N, Bakr M, Hyder AA. Road traffic injuries and data systems in Egypt: addressing the challenges. Traffic Inj Prev. 2012;13(Suppl 1):44–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Labinjo M, Juillard C, Kobusingye OC, Hyder AA. The burden of road traffic injuries in Nigeria: results of a population-based survey. Inj Prev. 2009;15(3):157–62.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. World report on road traffic injury prevention. World Health Organization, Genewa 2004.

  25. O’Neill B, Mohan D. Reducing motor vehicle crash deaths and injuries in newly motorising countries. Br Med J. 2002;324:1142–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Whitelegg J, Haq G, editors. The Earthscan reader on world transport, policy and practice. London: Earthscan Publications; 2003. p. 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Roberts I, Mohan D, Abbasi K. War on the roads. Br Med J. 2002;324:1107–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Nader R. Translating research into advocacy for injury prevention. Acad Emerg Med. 1996;3(2):161–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Trinca GW et al. Reducing traffic injury—a global challenge. No. HS-040 939. 1988.

  30. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Motor vehicle safety: a 20th century public health achievement. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999;48:369–74.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lonero L et al. Road safety as a social construct. Transport Canada Report No. 8080-00-1112 Ottawa, Northport Associates, 2002.

  32. Artamoshina MP. The European countries’ government programs targeted to decrease the road traffic injuries. Probl Sotsialnoi Gig Zdravookhranenniiai Istor Med. 2008;6:39–44.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. McIlvenny S. Road traffic accidents—a challenging epidemic. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2006;6(1):3–5.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Runyan CW. Using the Haddon matrix: introducing the third dimension. Inj Prev. 1998;4(4):302–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Forjuoh SN. Traffic-related injury prevention interventions for low-income countries. Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003;10(1–2):109–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Horrey WJ, Lesch MF, Dainoff MJ, Robertson MM, Noy YI. On-board safety monitoring systems for driving: review, knowledge gaps, and framework. J Safety Res. 2012;43(1):49–58.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Sun Z, Bebis G, Miller R. On-road vehicle detection: a review. EEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell. 2006;28(5):694–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Forjuoh SN. Supporting the UN decade of action for road safety 2011–2020. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2010;17(4):213–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Tiwari G. Road safety: decade of action with research. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2011;18(1):1–2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Decade of action for road safety 2011–2020. http://www.who.int/roadsafety/decade_of_action/en/. Accessed 24 Mar 2015.

  41. Afukaar FK. Speed control in developing countries: issues, challenges and opportunities in reducing road traffic injuries. Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003;10(1–2):77–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Liu BC, Ivers R, Norton R, Boufous S, Blows S, Lo SK. Helmets for preventing injury in motorcycle riders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;1:CD004333.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Yu WY, Chen CY, Chiu WT, Lin MR. Effectiveness of different types of motorcycle helmets and effects of their improper use on head injuries. Int J Epidemiol. 2011;40(3):794–803.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Rogé J, Douissembekov E, Vienne F. Low conspicuity of motorcycles for car drivers: dominant role of bottom-up control of visual attention or deficit of top-down control? Hum Factors. 2012;54(1):14–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Larsson P, Dekker SW, Tingvall C. The need for a systems theory approach to road safety. Saf Sci. 2010;48(9):1167–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Yannis G, Antoniou C, Papadimitriou E, Katsochis D. When may road fatalities start to decrease? J Saf Res. 2011;42(1):17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

Krzysztof Goniewicz, Mariusz Goniewicz, Witold Pawłowski and Piotr Fiedor declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disaster Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, ul. Zwirki i Wigury 81 A, 02-091, Warszawa, Poland

    K. Goniewicz & W. Pawłowski

  2. Emergency Medicine Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

    M. Goniewicz

  3. Department of General and Transplantation Surgery, Medical University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland

    P. Fiedor

Authors
  1. K. Goniewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Goniewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. Pawłowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. Fiedor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Goniewicz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goniewicz, K., Goniewicz, M., Pawłowski, W. et al. Road accident rates: strategies and programmes for improving road traffic safety. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 42, 433–438 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-015-0544-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-015-0544-6

Keywords

search

Navigation