Lethality of traffic accidents on Brazilian federal highways in 2016

Abstract

Traffic accident mortality is a growing concern worldwide, recognized as a major public health problem and the leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds (WHO, 2015).. In Brazil, in 2016, approximately 37 thousand people died as result of traffic accidents, 6,400 (17%) of which took place in federal highways. Given the importance of these deaths, the aim of this article is to identify factors associated with the lethality of traffic accidents on Brazilian federal highways in 2016, considering not only the characteristics of the victims, but also the context of the occurrence of such accidents. To that end, a binomial logistic regression model was used. Results obtained from the statistical model showed that, on average, the chances of a traffic accident being fatal are higher for males, pedestrians, occurrences in the Northeast region, during Sundays, at dawn, in curves and rural areas, and become even higher for older victims.

Key words
Accidents. Traffic; Lethality; Regression analysis