Impact of provincial characteristics on the number of traffic accident victims on interurban roads in Spain

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention 2018-09, Vol.118, p.178-189
• Main Authors: Sánchez González, María Pilar, Escribano Sotos, Francisco, Tejada Ponce, Ángel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic - mortality; Automobile Driving; Environment Design; Fatalities; Humans; Licensure; Motor Vehicles; Panel data; Provincial characteristics; Serious injuries; Slight injuries; Social Behavior; Social Responsibility; Spain - epidemiology; Spatial Analysis; Unemployment; Wounds and Injuries
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2018.02.015

•Higher quality interurban roads would improve road safety in Spain.•The impact of the penalty-points system differs according to type of victim.•Specific characteristics of each province affect the number of victims.•Greater autonomy for provincial institutions might improve road safety policy. This study has two aims. The first is to determine how various factors impact on the number of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries adjusted for the level of traffic on interurban roads in Spain. The second is to establish the number of victims per million vehicle-kilometres (veh-km) travelled on interurban roads in each province resulting from the effect of its specific characteristics. To this end, we developed six fixed effect panel data models with panel corrected standard errors for the 1999–2015 period. Our results show that while the proportion of high capacity roads, the unemployment rate and the motorization rate contribute to a reduction in the number of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries adjusted for level of traffic, the penalty-points licence system is effective in reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries but not the number of slight injuries. Furthermore, the specific conditions in Ávila, Toledo, Madrid, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Balearic Islands, Lleida and all the provinces on the Mediterranean coast cause a higher number of victims per million veh-km travelled than in the remaining provinces. Thus, greater public investment and more socially responsible behaviour are essential tools for reducing the number of traffic accident victims on Spanish interurban roads. Moreover, the provincial institutions emerge as key agents in improving road safety, due to their greater knowledge of the specific conditions and factors affecting each province.