Dataset Information

Does changing to brighter road lighting improve road safety? Multilevel longitudinal analysis of road traffic collision frequency during the relighting of a UK city.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:A step change in the night environment is taking place, with the large-scale installation of bright, broad-spectrum road lighting such as white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). One justification for this is a reduction in road traffic collisions (RTCs). This study aimed to estimate the effect of new lighting on personal injury RTCs within a large UK city. METHODS:We analysed a 9-year time series of weekly RTC personal injury counts in 132 areas of the city using multilevel modelling. The RTC rate over a full 24-hour period was the primary outcome; darkness and daylight RTC rates were secondary. The background change in RTC rate was separated from the change associated with the number of newly installed bright lamps by including a polynomial underlying time trend for the logarithm of the mean number of collisions per week for each area. The study was based on a rigorous, predesigned and archived protocol. RESULTS:Within-area coefficients for the broad lighting effect were positive; as the number of bright lamps in an area increased, so did the RTC rate. The estimate for the increase in the within-area 24-hour RTC rate is 11% (95%?CI 2% to 20%). The estimate of darkness-only RTCs is 16% (95% CI 2% to 32%). If the effect of lighting on darkness RTC rate is adjusted by that for daylight, one obtains 4% (95% CI -12% to +23%). CONCLUSION:No evidence was found for bright lamps leading to an improvement in road safety in any of the analyses. For this city, introducing brighter road lighting may have compromised safety rather than reducing harm.

SUBMITTER: Marchant P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7307661 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Does changing to brighter road lighting improve road safety? Multilevel longitudinal analysis of road traffic collision frequency during the relighting of a UK city.

Marchant Paul P Hale James David JD Sadler Jon Paul JP

Journal of epidemiology and community health 20200302 5

<h4>Background</h4>A step change in the night environment is taking place, with the large-scale installation of bright, broad-spectrum road lighting such as white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). One justification for this is a reduction in road traffic collisions (RTCs). This study aimed to estimate the effect of new lighting on personal injury RTCs within a large UK city.<h4>Methods</h4>We analysed a 9-year time series of weekly RTC personal injury counts in 132 areas of the city using multilevel ...[more]

PMID: 32122932

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Project description:BackgroundSince 2002, France has been strengthening legislation on road traffic. This study is intended to evaluate the changes in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) incidence and mortality resulting from Road Traffic Collision (RTC) in the two 6-year periods before and after 2002.MethodsWe used a Registry of all RTC casualties in the Rhône Department of France. Each casualty was coded according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). The study describes changes in demographic variables, TBI (AIS ? 2) incidence and mortality, other body lesions (AIS ? 3) associated with TBI, road user types, seatbelt and helmet wearing.FindingsRTC casualty occurrences decreased by 21% (from 64,312 to 50,746) during the period after 2002. TBI occurrence accounted for 8.6% and 6.7% of all RTC in both periods. This corresponds to a reduction of TBI casualty incidence (-42%), which was much more pronounced than RTC casualty incidence (-25%) (p < 0.0001). Severe and critical TBI (AIS-4 and -5) incidences were reduced by half as much (-21%), compared to TBI incidence. TBI mortality rate (among population) and lethality (among TBI related to RTC casualties) decreased 56% and 23%, respectively. This reduction particularly affected car occupants and victims who deceased. TBI incidence decreased 43% in all 10-year age classes until 60 on average, this decrease declining with age in the period after 2002. After adjustment for age, sex, road user types, and severity of lesions at the head and other body regions, logistic regression analysis displayed a protective effect of the period following 2002, on the risk of death after RTC-related TBI.InterpretationThe greater reductions in the incidence, severity and mortality of TBI when compared with the reduction of casualty incidence have mainly affected car users. These results should be attributable to the improvements in standards of care, primary safety of the car fleet and general road architecture safety. However, the increased reduction in the TBI epidemics in France, when compared to those observed in other developed countries for the same periods, suggests that the effects should be strongly attributable to changes in road user behaviour induced by law enforcement. The at-risk groups for TBI after RTC are now two-wheel users (motorized or not) and individuals over 60 years of age.

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Dataset Information

Does changing to brighter road lighting improve road safety? Multilevel longitudinal analysis of road traffic collision frequency during the relighting of a UK city.

Publications

Does changing to brighter road lighting improve road safety? Multilevel longitudinal analysis of road traffic collision frequency during the relighting of a UK city.

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