Neighborhood Social Inequalities in Road Traffic Injuries: The Influence of Traffic Volume and Road Design

This study examines the extent to which differential traffic volume and road geometry explains social inequalities in pedestrian, cyclist, and motor vehicle occupant injuries across wealthy and poor urban areas. A multilevel observational study was performed of all road users injured over 5 years at intersections in a large urban area (Island of Montreal, Canada). The authors considered intersection-level (traffic estimates, major roads, number of legs) and area-level (population density, commuting travel modes, household income) characteristics in multilevel Poisson regressions that nested intersections in 506 census tracts. Results showed that there were significantly more injured pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicle occupants at intersections in the poorest than in the richest areas. Controlling for traffic volume, intersection geometry, and pedestrian and cyclist volumes greatly attenuated the event rate ratios between intersections in the poorest and richest areas for injured pedestrians (−70%), cyclists (−44%), and motor vehicle occupants (−44%). It is concluded that roadway environment can explain a substantial portion of the excess rate of road traffic injuries in the poorest urban areas.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300528
• Record URL:
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22515869
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00900036
• Authors:
  • Morency, Patrick
  • Gauvin, Lise
  • Plante, Celine
  • Fournier, Michel
  • Morency, Catherine
• Publication Date: 2012-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1112-1119
• Serial:
  • American Journal of Public Health
  • Volume: 102
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: American Public Health Association
  • ISSN: 0090-0036
  • EISSN: 1541-0048
  • Serial URL: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/loi/ajph

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Equity; Geometric design; High risk locations; Injury rates; Intersections; Low income groups; Neighborhoods; Socioeconomic areas; Traffic crashes; Traffic volume; Upper income groups
• Geographic Terms: Montreal (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I81: Accident Statistics; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01444323
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2012 1:10PM