scholarly journals A Time Series Analysis of Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities in New York State

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bauer ◽  
Leah Hines ◽  
Emilia Pawlowski ◽  
Jin Luo ◽  
Anne Scott ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In New York State (NYS), motor vehicle (MV) injury to child passengers is a leading cause of hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visits in children aged 0–12 years. NYS laws require appropriate child restraints for ages 0–7 years and safety belts for ages 8 and up while traveling in a private passenger vehicle, but do not specify a seating position. Methods Factors associated with injury in front-seated (n = 11,212) compared to rear-seated (n = 93,092) passengers aged 0–12 years were examined by age groups 0–3, 4–7 and 8–12 years using the 2012–2014 NYS Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES). CODES consists of Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) crash reports linked to ED visits and hospitalizations. The front seat was row 1 and the rear rows 2–3. Vehicle towed from scene and air bag deployed were proxies for crash severity. Injury was dichotomized based on Maximum Abbreviated Injury Severity (MAIS) scores greater than zero. Multivariable logistic regression (odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI) was used to examine factors predictive of injury for the total population and for each age group. Results Front-seated children had more frequent injury than those rear-seated (8.46% vs. 4.92%, p < 0.0001). Children in child restraints experienced fewer medically-treated injuries compared to seat belted or unrestrained children (3.80, 6.50 and 13.62%, p < 0.0001 respectively). A higher proportion of children traveling with an unrestrained vs. restrained driver experienced injury (14.50% vs 5.26%, p < 0.0001). After controlling for crash severity, multivariable adjusted predictors of injury for children aged 0–12 years included riding in the front seat (1.20, 1.10–1.31), being unrestrained vs. child restraint (2.13, 1.73–2.62), being restrained in a seat belt vs. child restraint (1.20, 1.11–1.31), and traveling in a car vs. other vehicle type (1.21, 1.14–1.28). Similarly, protective factors included traveling with a restrained driver (0.61, 0.50–0.75), a driver aged < 25 years (0.91, 0.82–0.99), being an occupant of a later vehicle model year 2005–2008 (0.68, 0.53–0.89) or 2009–2015 (0.55, 0.42–0.71) compared to older model years (1970–1993). Conclusions Compared to front-seated children, rear-seated children and children in age-appropriate restraints had lower adjusted odds of medically-treated injury.


2020 ◽  
Vol 189 (9) ◽  
pp. 885-893
Author(s):  
Kenneth A Feder ◽  
Ramin Mojtabai ◽  
Elizabeth A Stuart ◽  
Rashelle Musci ◽  
Elizabeth J Letourneau

Abstract In 2011, Florida established a prescription drug monitoring program and adopted new regulations for independent pain-management clinics. We examined the association of those reforms with drug overdose deaths and other injury fatalities. Florida’s postreform monthly mortality rates—for drug-involved deaths, motor vehicle crashes, and suicide by means other than poisoning—were compared with a counterfactual estimate of what those rates would have been absent reform. The counterfactual was estimated using a Bayesian structural time-series model based on mortality trends in similar states. By December 2013, drug overdose deaths were down 17% (95% credible interval: −21, −12), motor vehicle crash deaths were down 9% (95% credible interval: −14, −4), and suicide deaths were unchanged compared with what would be expected in the absence of reform. Florida’s opioid prescribing reform substantially reduced drug overdose deaths. Reforms may also have reduced motor vehicle crash deaths but were not associated with a change in suicides. More research is needed to understand these patterns. Bayesian structural time-series modeling is a promising new approach to interrupted time-series studies.


Author(s):  
Joyce C. Pressley ◽  
Leah M. Hines ◽  
Michael J. Bauer ◽  
Shin Ah Oh ◽  
Joshua R. Kuhl ◽  
...  

Rural areas of New York State (NYS) have higher rates of alcohol-related motor vehicle (MV) crash injury than metropolitan areas. While alcohol-related injury has declined across the three geographic regions of NYS, disparities persist with rural areas having smaller declines. Our study aim was to examine factors associated with alcohol-related MV crashes in Upstate and Long Island using multi-sourced county-level data that included the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) with emergency department visits and hospitalizations, traffic citations, demographic, economic, transportation, alcohol outlets, and Rural–Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCS). A cross-sectional study design employed zero-truncated negative binominal regression models to assess relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Counties (n = 57, 56,000 alcohol-related crashes over the 3 year study timeframe) were categorized by mean annual alcohol-related MV injuries per 100,000 population: low (24.7 ± 3.9), medium (33.9 ± 1.7) and high (46.1 ± 8.0) (p < 0.0001). In multivariable analyses, alcohol-related MV injury was elevated for non-adjacent, non-metropolitan counties (RR 2.5, 95% CI: 1.6–3.9) with higher citations for impaired driving showing a small, but significant protective effect. Less metropolitan areas had higher alcohol-related MV injury with inconsistent alcohol-related enforcement measures. In summary, higher alcohol-related MV injury rates in non-metropolitan counties demonstrated a dose–response relationship with proximity to a metropolitan area. These findings suggest areas where intervention efforts might be targeted to lower alcohol-related MV injury.


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