Citation

Morency P, Gauvin L, Plante C, Fournier M, Morency C. Am. J. Public Health 2012; 102(6): 1112-1119.

Affiliation

Patrick Morency, Céline Plante, and Michel Fournier are with the Direction de santé publique de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Patrick Morency and Lise Gauvin are with the Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and the Département de médecine sociale et préventive de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Catherine Morency is with the Département des génies civil, géologique et des mines, École Polytechnique de Montréal, and the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les réseaux d'entreprise, la logistique et le transport, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2011.300528

PMID

22515869

Abstract

Objectives. We examined the extent to which differential traffic volume and road geometry can explain social inequalities in pedestrian, cyclist, and motor vehicle occupant injuries across wealthy and poor urban areas. Methods. We performed a multilevel observational study of all road users injured over 5 years (n = 19 568) at intersections (n = 17 498) in a large urban area (Island of Montreal, Canada). We considered intersection-level (traffic estimates, major roads, number of legs) and area-level (population density, commuting travel modes, household income) characteristics in multilevel Poisson regressions that nested intersections in 506 census tracts. Results. There were significantly more injured pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicle occupants at intersections in the poorest than in the richest areas. Controlling for traffic volume, intersection geometry, and pedestrian and cyclist volumes greatly attenuated the event rate ratios between intersections in the poorest and richest areas for injured pedestrians (-70%), cyclists (-44%), and motor vehicle occupants (-44%). Conclusions. Roadway environment can explain a substantial portion of the excess rate of road traffic injuries in the poorest urban areas. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print April 19, 2012: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300528).

Language: en