Differences in urban and rural accident characteristics and medical service utilization for traffic fatalities in less-motorized societies.
BACKGROUND
Fatalities from traffic accidents in less-motorized societies are an important global issue. We aimed to characterize the geographic differences of fatalities in such societies to facilitate the development of targeted interventions.


METHODS
This study linked police reports, hospital data, and vital registration data from Taiwan with special reference to accident factors in pre-hospital deaths and medical care in hospital deaths.


RESULTS
A higher percentage of pre-hospital deaths were observed following rural as compared to urban traffic accidents. The deaths due to rural accidents can be attributed to lower use of restraints (i.e., helmets or seat belts), lower percentage of motorcyclists, and more highway accidents. A higher percentage of victims in rural accidents were transported to distant medical centers rather than to local hospitals.


CONCLUSIONS
Specific interventions, such as intelligent emergency medical systems, campaigns for helmets and seat belt usage, enforcement of helmets and seat belt use, and speed control measures should be targeted to rural areas.


CONCLUSIONS
Cooperation between the vehicle industry and emergency medical providers in rural traffic accident rescue teams may decrease the numbers of deaths in these regions.
Li
Ming-Der
MD
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Doong
Ji-Liang
JL
Chang
Kai-Kuo
KK
Lu
Tsung-Hsueh
TH
Jeng
Ming-Chang
MC
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019992:Databases as Topic; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult