25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level
Road traffic injuries are a significant public health concern, ranking among the leading causes of mortality and disability-adjusted life years lost globally, especially among the young population. Traditionally, road safety has been approached predominantly from a healthcare standpoint, with limite...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1463878/full |
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| author | Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Elena Santamariña-Rubio Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Josep Ferrando Carlos Pastor Adnan A. Hyder Carme Borrell Carme Borrell Carme Borrell |
| author_facet | Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Elena Santamariña-Rubio Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Josep Ferrando Carlos Pastor Adnan A. Hyder Carme Borrell Carme Borrell Carme Borrell |
| author_sort | Katherine Pérez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Road traffic injuries are a significant public health concern, ranking among the leading causes of mortality and disability-adjusted life years lost globally, especially among the young population. Traditionally, road safety has been approached predominantly from a healthcare standpoint, with limited interventions from a comprehensive public health perspective. In Barcelona, the Agència de Salut Pública (Public Health Agency) has been monitoring road traffic injuries and evaluating road safety interventions since the late 1990s. This paper explores how Barcelona has addressed road safety over more than two decades through a public health lens, emphasizing the evaluation of intervention effectiveness, highlighting key success factors, and addressing the challenges encountered. First, we describe the road traffic surveillance system, providing insights into the context of mobility and road safety interventions in the city since the late 1990s. Since then, 10 interventions have been evaluated, encompassing legislation policies (helmet law, motorcycle driving license, and the penalty points system) and infrastructure measures (speed radars, advanced stop lines for motorcycles, safe routes to school, 30 km/h zone, and red-light cameras), as well as a cost–benefit study of speed radars. Next, the paper quantifies the overall impact of road safety interventions by estimating the difference between the observed number of road traffic injuries and the expected number if no interventions had been implemented from January 2008 to December 2023, stratified by gender, injury severity, and mode of transport. Since 2008, injuries were prevented in more than 34,800 individuals, including approximately 1,000 severe injuries. Mode-specific analysis revealed that more than 4,700 pedestrians, 12,300 car users, and 3,200 moped users benefited from injury prevention measures, while the number of injuries among motorcyclists was 5,200 higher than expected. This article discusses key success factors, the pivotal role of public health in road safety, and outlines future challenges, providing valuable insights for cities aiming to adopt a comprehensive public health approach to address road safety concerns. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-06937283fc92413b9d75af029a9f9589 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-06937283fc92413b9d75af029a9f95892025-02-07T17:25:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-02-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.1463878146387825 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city levelKatherine Pérez0Katherine Pérez1Katherine Pérez2Elena Santamariña-Rubio3Maria José López4Maria José López5Maria José López6Maria José López7Lucia Artazcoz8Lucia Artazcoz9Lucia Artazcoz10Lucia Artazcoz11Josep Ferrando12Carlos Pastor13Adnan A. Hyder14Carme Borrell15Carme Borrell16Carme Borrell17CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainAgència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, SpainInstitut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR SANT PAU), Barcelona, SpainAgència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, SpainCIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainAgència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, SpainInstitut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR SANT PAU), Barcelona, SpainUniversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, SpainCIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainAgència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, SpainInstitut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR SANT PAU), Barcelona, SpainUniversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, SpainCIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainGuàrdia Urbana de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainMilken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United StatesCIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainAgència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, SpainInstitut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR SANT PAU), Barcelona, SpainRoad traffic injuries are a significant public health concern, ranking among the leading causes of mortality and disability-adjusted life years lost globally, especially among the young population. Traditionally, road safety has been approached predominantly from a healthcare standpoint, with limited interventions from a comprehensive public health perspective. In Barcelona, the Agència de Salut Pública (Public Health Agency) has been monitoring road traffic injuries and evaluating road safety interventions since the late 1990s. This paper explores how Barcelona has addressed road safety over more than two decades through a public health lens, emphasizing the evaluation of intervention effectiveness, highlighting key success factors, and addressing the challenges encountered. First, we describe the road traffic surveillance system, providing insights into the context of mobility and road safety interventions in the city since the late 1990s. Since then, 10 interventions have been evaluated, encompassing legislation policies (helmet law, motorcycle driving license, and the penalty points system) and infrastructure measures (speed radars, advanced stop lines for motorcycles, safe routes to school, 30 km/h zone, and red-light cameras), as well as a cost–benefit study of speed radars. Next, the paper quantifies the overall impact of road safety interventions by estimating the difference between the observed number of road traffic injuries and the expected number if no interventions had been implemented from January 2008 to December 2023, stratified by gender, injury severity, and mode of transport. Since 2008, injuries were prevented in more than 34,800 individuals, including approximately 1,000 severe injuries. Mode-specific analysis revealed that more than 4,700 pedestrians, 12,300 car users, and 3,200 moped users benefited from injury prevention measures, while the number of injuries among motorcyclists was 5,200 higher than expected. This article discusses key success factors, the pivotal role of public health in road safety, and outlines future challenges, providing valuable insights for cities aiming to adopt a comprehensive public health approach to address road safety concerns.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1463878/fullroad safetyroad traffic injuriespolicy evaluationevaluationinjury surveillancepublic health |
| spellingShingle | Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Katherine Pérez Elena Santamariña-Rubio Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Maria José López Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Lucia Artazcoz Josep Ferrando Carlos Pastor Adnan A. Hyder Carme Borrell Carme Borrell Carme Borrell 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level Frontiers in Public Health road safety road traffic injuries policy evaluation evaluation injury surveillance public health |
| title | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| title_full | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| title_fullStr | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| title_full_unstemmed | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| title_short | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| title_sort | 25 years of providing evidence on road safety interventions at the city level |
| topic | road safety road traffic injuries policy evaluation evaluation injury surveillance public health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1463878/full |
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