The effect of road improvements on motor vehicle crash injury and mortality in a developing country.
The developing island-nation of Grenada undertook a major road improvement project between 1995 and 1998. In order to determine the effect of those improvements on crash injury and mortality, we reviewed the number of crash-related injuries and deaths for the years 1994 and 1999. After the road improvements, the proportion of crashes that resulted in injury decreased from 22% to 15%. The raw number of crashes (818 vs. 1233), deaths (4 vs. 12) and deaths per 100,000 population (4.1 vs. 11.9) increased, but the proportion of crashes that resulted in death (0.5% vs. 0.7%) remained effectively unchanged.
Keough
L
L
St. George's University School of Medicine, Grenada, West Indies.
Rinkle
J
J
Hage
R
R
Brown
L H
LH
Hunt
R C
RC
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D019425:Grenada; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*