PEDAL AND MOTOR CYCLE HELMET USE, SPLIT BY GENDER: EVIDENCE FROM EUROPE, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Keith Akiva Lehrer

Review of Business and Finance Studies, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 83-95

Abstract: According to the WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety of 2013, road fatalities were 1.24 million for the 182 countries studied; the injury statistics were as always less precise: depending on definition and recording measures, there were 20-50 million injuries –either extreme of the spectrum would constitute the size of a medium-large nation state. In economic terms the cost of road injuries in 2000 was recorded in the WHO Report as in excess of $1/2 trillion –again equivalent to the GDP of medium-large national economies. Correct helmet use was estimated in the study to reduce the risk of death by 40%, and that of serious injury by 70%. These somewhat sobering statistics provide the backdrop for the empirical study of helmet use by riders of bicycles and motorcycles analyzed by gender, age, number of riders and personal/cargo use, which are presented below. Locations in the following countries were chosen in Central America and the Caribbean, for empirical observation of helmet use: Latin America (Cuba, Costa Rica and Nicaragua) and locations in the following countries in Europe (U.K., Italy and the Netherlands.) The data collected are summarized, analyzed and reviewed; and comparisons between countries and regions made. Policy implications are discussed. Tentative policy recommendations are suggested, subject to more extensive empirical research, for a more pro-active approach to road safety for pedal and motor cycle users –not just operators but also passengers, who constitute some of the most vulnerable road users

Keywords: Road Safety; Bicycle Helmet Use; Motorcycle Helmet Use; Risk; Gender Differences; Public Health; Public Policy; Transport Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H83 I00 N70 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/rbfstu/rbfs-v8n1-2017/RBFS-V8N1-2017-9.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ibf:rbfstu:v:8:y:2017:i:1:p:83-95

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Business and Finance Studies is currently edited by Terrance Jalbert

More articles in Review of Business and Finance Studies from The Institute for Business and Finance Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mercedes Jalbert ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).