Interventions and their effects on mortality in motor vehicle collisions
| Intervention | Effect of intervention | RR (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|
| Use of seat belts | Reduced mortality for vehicle occupants using a seat belt when compared with unbelted passengers in the same vehicle (9) | 0.39 (0.37–0.41) |
| Conviction for traffic infraction | Reduced risk of driver being involved in a fatal crash during the first month after a conviction for a traffic infraction (10) | 0.65 (0.55–0.80) |
| Use of air bags | Reduced mortality attributed to airbag use for drivers in head-on collision compared with other driver in the same collision (11) | 0.71 (0.58 –0.87) |
| Use of helmets by motorcyclists | Reduced mortality for motorcyclists wearing helmets in a crash compared with passengers, as analyzed by double pairs (12) | 0.72 (0.64–0.80) |
| Graduated licensing | Reduced risk of a fatal crash for 16-year-old drivers who have graduated licences compared with those with regular licences (13) | 0.74 (0.65–0.84) |
| Treatment at level 1 trauma centres | Reduced in-hospital mortality for patients treated at level 1 trauma centres compared with patients at nontrauma centres (14) | 0.80 (0.66–0.98) |
| Traffic-calming measures | Reduced fatal and nonfatal collisions on traffic-calmed roadways before and after intervention (15) | 0.85 (0.75–0.96) |
| Daytime running headlights | Reduced odds of multivehicle daytime collision before and after implementation of daytime running lights (16) | 0.89 (0.85–0.92) |
| Increased speed limits | Reduction in fatality after increased speed limits compared with same roads before increased speed limits (17) | 0.97 (NA) |
| Driver education | No decrease in serious motor vehicle collisions with driver education from meta-analysis of randomized trials (18) | 0.98 (0.96–1.01) |
Note: CI = confidence interval, NA = not available, RR = risk ratio.