The authors read the article by Robertson (Robertson LS. Blood and oil: vehicle characteristics in relation to fatality risk and fuel economy. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:1906–1909) and they agree that the sports utility vehicles (SUVs) pose an increased risk to small car occupants as well as vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, older persons, and children. In many developing countries, pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaw operators, and moped users represent the majority of road users. These countries rarely have the resources to physically separate such road users from car traffic. Many developing countries have no sidewalks or bicycle paths and those that do exist are heavily obstructed by trees, trash, drainage ditches, and vendors selling goods. Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of global death and injury burden, accounting for 65% of the 1.2 million annual road deaths. Collisions between pedestrians and vehicles present a major challenge for public health, trauma and emergency medicine, and traffic safety professionals. Yet, in spite of the size of the pedestrian injury problem, research has concentrated almost exclusively on increasing the survival rates for vehicle occupants. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting