Using a Safe System Framework to Examine the Roadway Mortality Increase Pre-COVID-19 and in the COVID-19 Era in New York State

Joyce C. Pressley (), Zarah Aziz, Emilia Pawlowski, Leah Hines, Aisha Roberts, Jancarlos Guzman and Michael Bauer
Additional contact information
Joyce C. Pressley: Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management and the Columbia Center for Injury Science and Prevention, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Zarah Aziz: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Emilia Pawlowski: New York State, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, Albany, NY 12237, USA
Leah Hines: New York State, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, Albany, NY 12237, USA
Aisha Roberts: New York State, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, Albany, NY 12237, USA
Jancarlos Guzman: New York State, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, Albany, NY 12237, USA
Michael Bauer: New York State, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, Albany, NY 12237, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Roadway mortality increased during COVID-19, reversing a multi-decade downward trend. The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was used to examine contributing factors pre-COVID-19 and in the COVID-19 era using the five pillars of the Safe System framework: (1) road users; (2) vehicles; (3) roadways; (4) speed; and (5) post-crash care. Two study time periods were matched to control for seasonality differences pre-COVID-19 ( n = 1725, 1 April 2018–31 December 2019) and in the COVID-19 era ( n = 2010, 1 April 2020–31 December 2021) with a three-month buffer period between the two time frames excluded. Four of the five pillars of the safe system had road safety indicators that worsened during the pandemic. Mortality was 19.7% higher for motor vehicle occupants and 45.1% higher for riders of motorized two-wheeled vehicles. In adjusted analyses, failure to use safety equipment (safety belts/helmets) was associated with 44% higher mortality. Two road user groups, non-motorized bicyclists and pedestrians, did not contribute significantly to higher mortality. Urban roadway crashes were higher compared to rural crashes. Additional scientific inquiry into factors associated with COVID-19-era mortality using the Safe System framework yielded important scientific insights to inform prevention efforts. Motorized two-wheeled vehicles contribute disproportionately to pandemic-era higher mortality and constitute an emerging road safety issue that deserves further attention.

Keywords: motor vehicle crash; mortality; safe system; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/1/61/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/1/61/ (text/html)

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:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:1:p:61-:d:1559986

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().