Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Jul 2024)

The impact of non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 interventions on collisions, traffic injuries and fatalities across Québec

  • José Ignacio Nazif-Munoz,
  • Brice Batomen,
  • Thomas Gordon Brown,
  • Camila Correa Matias Pereira,
  • Marie-Soleil Cloutier,
  • Claude Giroux,
  • Asma Mamri,
  • Vahid Najafi Moghaddam Gilani,
  • Marie Claude Ouimet,
  • Cynthia Paquet,
  • Joël Tremblay,
  • Émilie Turmel,
  • Ward Vanlaar

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26
p. 101136

Abstract

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The association between non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 (NP-COVID-19) interventions, which aimed to regulate public behaviour to curb the spread of COVID-19, and road safety has become an important area of research to explore the unintended consequences of this pandemic. This study focuses on the 17 regions of the province of Quebec in Canada to assess the relation of NP-COVID-19 interventions on collisions, light and severe injuries, and traffic fatalities. Interrupted time-series analyses were conducted from 2015 to 2022, using daily traffic fatality and injury data per 100 000 population. A COVID-19 NP interventions index for Québec (QCnPI-Index) was created based on 58 interventions implemented from March 2020 to June 2022 in each region. Multiple controls commonly used in the road safety literature, such as weather conditions and seasonal patterns, were applied. The association between the QCnPI-Index and the four outcomes was mixed. First, the QCnPI-Index was associated with considerable reductions for collisions and light injuries in all regions. Significant reductions in severe injuries were linked to the index across six regions: Montérégie, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Laval, Outaouais and Montréal. No concomitant changes were observed in traffic fatalities across any region. Findings underscore the complex relationship between NP-COVID-19 interventions and road safety, emphasizing the need for more comprehensive efforts to understand their diverse effects. Further investigation is warranted to comprehend the discrepancy in the reduction of injuries and collisions compared to fatalities. This study ultimately highlights the importance of continuing exploring in future research additional factors, such as road safety interventions during COVID-19 periods, and concentrating on pedestrians and cyclists, to better understand the impact of NP-COVID-19 interventions on other road safety dimensions.

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