Traffic-related injury prevention interventions for low-income countries
- PMID: 12772494
- DOI: 10.1076/icsp.10.1.109.14115
Traffic-related injury prevention interventions for low-income countries
Abstract
Traffic-related injuries have become a major public health concern worldwide. However, unlike developed or high-income countries (HICs), many developing or low-income countries (LICs) have made very little progress towards addressing this problem. Lack of the progress in LICs is attributable, in part, to their economic situation in terms of their governments' lack of resources to invest in traffic safety, cultural beliefs regarding the fatalism of injuries, competing health problems particularly with the emergence of HIV/AIDS, distinctive traffic mixes comprising a substantial number of vulnerable road users for whom less research has been done, low literacy rates precluding motorists to read and understand road signs, and peculiar political situations occasionally predominated by dictatorship and non-democratic governments. How then can LICs tackle the challenge of traffic safety from the experiences of HICs without reinventing the wheel? This paper reviews selected interventions and strategies that have been developed to counter traffic-related injuries in HICs in terms of their effectiveness and their applicability to LICs. Proven and promising interventions or strategies such as seat belt and helmet use, legislation and enforcement of seat belt use, sidewalks, roadway barriers, selected traffic-calming designs (e.g., speed ramps/bumps), pedestrian crossing signs combined with clearly marked crosswalks, and public education and behavior modification targeted at motorists are all feasible and useable in LICs as evidenced by data from many LICs. While numerous traffic-related injury policy interventions and strategies developed largely in HICs are potentially transferable to LICs, it is important to consider country-specific factors such as costs, feasibility, sustainability, and barriers, all of which must be factored into the assessment of effectiveness in specific LIC settings. Almost all interventions and strategies that have been proven effective in HICs will need to be evaluated in LICs and particular attention paid to the effectiveness of enforcement measures. It behooves LIC governments, however, to ensure that only standard, approved safety devices like helmets are imported into their countries. Additionally, LICs may need to improvise and innovate in the traffic safety technology transfer.
Similar articles
-
Speed control in developing countries: issues, challenges and opportunities in reducing road traffic injuries.Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003 Mar-Jun;10(1-2):77-81. doi: 10.1076/icsp.10.1.77.14113. Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003. PMID: 12772489
-
Equity dimensions of road traffic injuries in low- and middle-income countries.Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003 Mar-Jun;10(1-2):13-20. doi: 10.1076/icsp.10.1.13.14116. Inj Control Saf Promot. 2003. PMID: 12772481
-
Injuries as a public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa: epidemiology and prospects for control.East Afr Med J. 2000 Dec;77(12 Suppl):S1-43. East Afr Med J. 2000. PMID: 12862115
-
Distribution of road traffic deaths by road user group: a global comparison.Inj Prev. 2009 Feb;15(1):55-9. doi: 10.1136/ip.2008.018721. Inj Prev. 2009. PMID: 19190278 Review.
-
Behavioral and environmental interventions for reducing motor vehicle trauma.Annu Rev Public Health. 1986;7:13-34. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.07.050186.000305. Annu Rev Public Health. 1986. PMID: 3521641 Review. No abstract available.
Cited by
-
Role of Motorcycle Running Lights in Reducing Motorcycle Crashes during Daytime; A Review of the Current Literature.Bull Emerg Trauma. 2015 Jul;3(3):73-8. Bull Emerg Trauma. 2015. PMID: 27162907 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Injury Severity of Motorcycle Riders Involved in Traffic Crashes in Hunan, China: A Mixed Ordered Logit Approach.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Jul 14;13(7):714. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13070714. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27428987 Free PMC article.
-
Pedestrian road traffic injuries in urban Peruvian children and adolescents: case control analyses of personal and environmental risk factors.PLoS One. 2008 Sep 10;3(9):e3166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003166. PLoS One. 2008. PMID: 18781206 Free PMC article.
-
Road Traffic Injury Prevention Initiatives: A Systematic Review and Metasummary of Effectiveness in Low and Middle Income Countries.PLoS One. 2016 Jan 6;11(1):e0144971. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144971. eCollection 2016. PLoS One. 2016. PMID: 26735918 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Barriers to the enforcement of mandatory seat belt laws in Ghana: an exploratory study.Health Promot Int. 2021 Oct 13;36(5):1300-1309. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa107. Health Promot Int. 2021. PMID: 33447848 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Medical