Risk factors for road safety; Inventory and selection for research purposes. This report contains an inventory of factors increasing the risk of sustaining serious or fatal injury in a traffic crash. For readability the term ‘risk factors’ is used; this should always be read as risk increasing factors. Risk factors can influence the risk of being involved in a traffic crash. An example of such a risk factor is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, risk factors can also influence the risk of sustaining injury in a crash, for example not wearing a seatbelt. A central assumption in this report is that there must always be a situation that can be used as a reference: quantitative assessments can only be made if a comparison can be made between the risk of a crash in a situation in which that specific risk factor is present, and the risk of a crash in a situation without that factor. This approach has been taken from epidemiology, where, for example, a comparison is made between the risk of a serious illness if a certain risk factor is present and the risk of the same illness if that factor is not present. Although they are related, risk factors are not the same as measures. This report considers a risk factor to be the underlying cause of a risk increase in a certain situation. Measures can help to limit the consequences of a risk factor. Sometimes the two are each other’s mirror image. For example: in this report a driver not using snow tyres is considered a risk factor. At the same time, however, the use of snow tyres can also be indicated as a measure.
Samenvatting