Abstract
BACKGROUND: Traffic-related trauma is an important contributor to morbidity and mortality in Canada, especially among children and young adults. Comparing exposure-based injury rates between travel modes and jurisdictions is a valuable tool towards improving safety.
METHODS: We used injury data from the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Branch, trip diary data from the Metro Vancouver transportation authority, and population and provincial travel data from the Census to calculate crude fatality and injury rates for motor vehicle occupants, bicyclists, and pedestrians. We used three different denominators: population; person-trip; and distance travelled.
RESULTS: Motor vehicle occupants had the lowest fatality rates using exposure-based denominators: 9.6 per 100 million person-trips and 0.97 per 100 million km. Bicyclists and pedestrians had similar fatality rates using one denominator (13.8 vs. 14.7 per 100 million person-trips, respectively), but bicyclists had a lower rate using the other (2.60 vs. 7.37 per 100 million km). For injuries, pedestrians had the lowest rate and bicyclists the highest using the person-trip denominator, whereas motor vehicle occupants had the lowest rate using the distance denominator, and bicycling and walking had similar rates.
CONCLUSIONS: Risks of driving, walking and bicycling in British Columbia were similar to their risks in the United States. The injury and fatality rates for these three travel modes were intermediate compared to much higher rates among US motorcyclists and much lower rates among US bus passengers. Data improvements would enable transportation trauma rate calculations for Canada as a whole and for other modes of travel (transit, motorcycling).
Key words: Traffic accidents, walking, bicycling, automobile driving, active transportation
Résumé
CONTEXTE: Les traumatismes liés aux accidents de la circulation contribuent de façon importante à la morbidité et à la mortalité au Canada, surtout chez les enfants et les jeunes adultes. La comparaison des taux de blessures par exposition selon le mode de transport et selon la province/le territoire est un outil précieux pour améliorer la sécurité.
MÉTHODE: Nous avons utilisé les données sur les blessures de la Direction générale des véhicules automobiles de la Colombie-Britannique, les données sur les trajets de l’Administration du métro de Vancouver et les données provinciales et populationnelles sur les déplacements tirées du Recensement pour calculer les taux bruts d’accidents mortels et de blessures pour les occupants de véhicules automobiles, les cyclistes et les piétons. Nous avons utilisé trois dénominateurs différents: la population; les déplacements-personnes; et la distance parcourue.
RÉSULTATS: Les occupants de véhicules automobiles avaient les taux d’accidents mortels les plus bas selon les dénominateurs par exposition: 9,6 p. 100 millions de déplacements-personnes et 0,97 p. 100 millions de km. Les taux d’accidents mortels des cyclistes et des piétons étaient semblables selon un dénominateur (13,8 c. 14,7 p. 100 millions de déplacements-personnes, respectivement), mais le taux des cyclistes était inférieur selon l’autre dénominateur (2,60 c. 7,37 p. 100 millions de km). Pour les blessures, les piétons avaient le taux le plus bas et les cyclistes le taux le plus élevé selon le dénominateur des déplacements-personnes, tandis que les occupants de véhicules automobiles avaient le taux le plus bas selon le dénominateur de la distance; cyclistes et piétons avaient des taux semblables.
CONCLUSION: Les risques de la conduite automobile, de la marche et de la bicyclette en Colombie-Britannique étaient semblables à ceux aux États-Unis. Les taux de blessures et d’accidents mortels pour ces trois modes de transport étaient moyens comparativement aux taux des É.-U., qui sont beaucoup plus élevés pour les motocyclistes et beaucoup plus faibles pour les passagers d’autobus et d’autocars. En améliorant les données, il serait possible de calculer les taux de traumatismes liés aux transports pour l’ensemble du Canada et pour les autres modes de déplacement (transports en commun, motocyclette).
Mots clés: accidents de la circulation, marche, bicyclette, conduite automobile, transport actif
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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