Injuries from single-vehicle crashes and snow depth.
Swedish official statistics on road traffic accidents shows a remarkable variability among different winter seasons in single-vehicle crashes resulting in personal injuries--one of the major causes of personal injury in road traffic. This study presents results from analyses investigating the role played by snow as an injury-reducing factor. The regression model specified implies, when applied to Swedish data, that an increase in snow depth by 1 cm--for snow depths less than 40 centimetres--reduces the number of crashes with occupant injury by 3%. This finding has implications for assessing trends in traffic safety through the use of routine statistics on motor vehicle occupant injuries and also shows that roadside design is a decisive factor in the generation of injury to the individual in single-vehicle crashes.
Brorsson
B
B
Department of Social Medicine, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Ifver
J
J
Rydgren
H
H
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012914:Snow; D013548:Sweden; D014887:Weather; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*