Transportation and Public Health: An Integrated Approach to Policy, Planning, and Implementation helps current and future transportation professionals integrate public health considerations into their transportation planning, thus supporting sustainability and promoting societal health and well-being. The book defines key issues, describes potential solutions, and provides detailed examples of how solutions have been implemented worldwide. In addition, it demonstrates how to identify gaps in existing policy frameworks. Addressing a critical and emerging urgent need in transportation and public health research, the book creates a coherent, inclusive and interdisciplinary framework for understanding. By integrating principles from transportation planning and engineering, health management, economics, social and organizational psychology, the book deepens understanding of these multiple perspectives and tensions inherent in integrating public health and transportation planning and policy implementation.
Every day thousands of people are killed and injured on our roads. Millions of people each year will spend long weeks in the hospital after severe crashes and many will never be able to live, work or play as they used to do. Current efforts to address road safety are minimal in comparison to this growing human suffering. This report presents a comprehensive overview of what is known about the magnitude, risk factors and impact of road traffic injuries, and about ways to prevent and lessen the impact of road crashes. Over 100 experts, from all continents and different sectors -- including transport, engineering, health, police, education and civil society -- have worked to produce the report. Charts and tables.
The face of the pedestrian safety crisis looks a lot like Ignacio Duarte-Rodriguez. The 77-year old grandfather was struck in a hit-and-run crash while trying to cross a high-speed, six-lane road without crosswalks near his son’s home in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one of the more than 6,000 people killed while walking in America in 2018. In the last ten years, there has been a 50 percent increase in pedestrian deaths. The tragedy of traffic violence has barely registered with the media and wider culture. Disproportionately the victims are like Duarte-Rodriguez—immigrants, the poor, and people of color. They have largely been blamed and forgotten. In Right of Way, journalist Angie Schmitt shows us that deaths like Duarte-Rodriguez’s are not unavoidable “accidents.” They don’t happen because of jaywalking or distracted walking. They are predictable, occurring in stark geographic patterns that tell a story about systemic inequality. These deaths are the forgotten faces of an increasingly urgent public-health crisis that we have the tools, but not the will, to solve. Schmitt examines the possible causes of the increase in pedestrian deaths as well as programs and movements that are beginning to respond to the epidemic. Her investigation unveils why pedestrians are dying—and she demands action. Right of Way is a call to reframe the problem, acknowledge the role of racism and classism in the public response to these deaths, and energize advocacy around road safety. Ultimately, Schmitt argues that we need improvements in infrastructure and changes to policy to save lives. Right of Way unveils a crisis that is rooted in both inequality and the undeterred reign of the automobile in our cities. It challenges us to imagine and demand safer and more equitable cities, where no one is expendable.
Road space is shared by multiple vehicles (i.e. cars, taxis, buses, trucks, motorcycles, and mopeds), pedestrians, animals and many other categories of travellers. Easy availability of motor vehicles and advancements in their technology has made road travel easy; on the other hand, this has also resulted in a significant increase in the number of motor vehicle related injuries. Road traffic related injuries remain an important public health problem globally. It has been estimated that approximately 1.25 million people succumb to road traffic injuries annually worldwide, and between 20 and 50 million people sustain non-fatal injuries. It is a cause of great concern that 59% of the severely injured population is young adults aged between the age of 15 and 44 years. At present, globally road traffic injuries are ranked as the eighth leading cause of mortality, and if the current trends continues, it is expected to be the seventh leading cause of mortality at the global level by 2030. Road traffic safety is one of the most significant concerns of the United Nations and a 5-tiered approach has been proposed to combat traffic accidents and fatalities. This includes improvements in health care services focusing on injury care, road safety management, road network safety, vehicular safety, and implementation of road safety legislation. Changes in practices like speed control, use of seatbelts and helmets, respecting traffic signals and signs, avoiding drunken driving (or use of drugs), following traffic rules (lane driving) and avoiding mobile phones while driving are some of the behavioural changes that can bring about a significant reduction in the number of road traffic related injuries. The present book consists of fifteen chapters related to various aspects concerning road traffic and safety, including epidemiology of road traffic injuries, occupant protection and safety devices, risk factors, a manual of safety measures, road safety in hilly terrain and conflict zones, prevention of head injuries, the role of alcohol and bicycle related injuries. The authors hope that the book shall help the readers to get an overview of various aspects related to global road traffic and safety.
In recognition of the importance of road safety as a major health issue, the World Health Organization has declared 2011-2021 the Decade of Safety Action. Several countries in Europe, North America, and Asia have been successful in reducing fatalities and injuries due to road traffic crashes. However, many low-income countries continue to experience high rates of traffic fatalities and injuries. Transport Planning and Traffic Safety: Making Cities, Roads, and Vehicles Safer offers a source book for road safety training courses as well as an introductory textbook for graduate-level courses on road safety taught in engineering institutes. It brings together the international experiences and lessons learned from countries which have been successful in reducing traffic crashes and their applicability in low-income countries. The content is based on lectures delivered during an international course on transportation planning and traffic safety, sponsored annually by the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The book is interdisciplinary and aimed at professionals—traffic and road engineers, vehicle designers, law enforcers, and transport planners. The authors examine trends in performance of OECD countries and highlight the public health and systems approach of traffic safety with the vulnerable road user in focus. Topics include land use (transportation planning, mobility, and safety), safety education and legislation, accident analysis, road safety research, human tolerance to injury, vehicle design, safety in construction zones, safety in urban areas, traffic calming, public transportation, safety laws and policies, and pre-hospital care of the injured.
This book provides traffic safety researchers and practitioners with an international and multi-disciplinary compendium of theoretical and methodological concepts relevant to the research and application of Traffic Safety Culture aiming towards a vision of zero traffic fatalities.
The disparity between urban and rural motor vehicle fatalities in the U.S. is well documented in academic research and reports show discrepancy between urban and rural fatalities. However, despite the decline in overall motor vehicle fatalities, the difference between urban and rural fatality rates has stayed relatively consistent. Rural fatalities still account for over half the overall fatalities despite having fewer vehicle miles travelled (VMT) than in urban areas. Therefore, examining the reasons behind the continued discrepancy between urban and rural motor vehicle deaths remains an important issue in safety management and research. This book discusses practices, roles of human behavior and effective programs in road and traffic safety.
