title: Distribution and characteristics of road traffic crashes in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, China.
abstract: In many developing urban settings, economic growth and motorization are coupled with increasing rates of road traffic injuries (RTIs). By highlighting typical sites and circumstances at/in which car crashes occur, more specific targets for prevention can be identified. The study is based on police data for a 1-year period and covers the Chaoyang District, the biggest district of Beijing City. Focus is placed on crash patterns and their distribution by types of road and areas. Both fatal and non-fatal crashes are considered (n=754). In the main, the crashes occurred in relatively favorable driving circumstances (e.g., sunny weather, flat and straight roads, asphalted roads, and good traffic signals and road markings). They were also quite evenly distributed over time of day, day of week and season. Five crash patterns were highlighted, of which three were strongly associated with specific areas and four with specific types of road. The study supports the idea that type of road and RTI severity or pattern are closely related. It contributes to the development of context-relevant prevention measures aimed at reducing road crashes and minimizing their consequences and also supports safe planning of the road traffic environment.
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of International Health, SE 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasselberg
authors.forename: Zongzhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laflamme
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004779:Environment Design; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*