Victoria Pyta
ARRB Group
Disadvantage and Road Safety
Contents
About this project
Overview of literature review
Preliminary findings
Next steps
• Background
• Objectives
• Definition of disadvantage
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Background
 Austroads project SS1761 (2012 – 2015)
– Literature review
– Data analysis and modelling
– Consultation
 Project Team:
– Project Technical Leader: Victoria Pyta (ARRB)
– Project Manager: Anita Baruah (VicRoads)
– Quality Manager: Dr Peter Cairney (ARRB)
Project Objectives
1. Determine how the incidence, severity, nature and
location of crash involvement varies between persons from
more versus less disadvantaged areas.
2. Gain an understanding of how road environment, vehicle
and behavioural factors are related to crash likelihood and
severity outcomes among persons from disadvantaged areas.
3. Recommend evidence-based strategies for addressing the
issues that are identified through this process.
What is disadvantage?
 What is disadvantage?
– Low income relative to others and/or expenditure
on necessities
– Barriers to education, social opportunities or work
– A ‘relative’ and ‘multi-dimensional’ concept
 How is disadvantage related to road safety?
– Socio-economic disadvantage is associated with
higher injury rates due to transport-related
injuries.
• Effects of disadvantage on road trauma
• Factors that are associated with both disadvantage and road trauma
• Interventions
LITERATURE REVIEW
Victoria, Australia
1.50
1.45
Incidence Rate Ratio
1.40
1.35
1.30
1.25
1.20
1.15
1.10
1.05
1.00
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th (ref)
SES quintile
Victorian
hospital data
(2005 to 2007)
Persons
assigned to
LGA of
residence
LGA ranked by
Index of
Relative Social
Disadvantage
(IRSD)
• Victorian Injury
Surveillance
Unit
• Transport
injuries
represent 14%
of all injuries in
the hospital
admissions data
• Persons with
greatest risk
come from the
2nd and 3rd
quintiles
New South Wales, Australia
 Remoteness and low SES associated with
increased risk of death among young drivers
Rural fatalities
Low SES fatalities
 Higher posted speed
limits
 Fatigue
 Drink-driving
 Seatbelt non-use
 Higher posted speed
limits
 Fatigue
 Driving an older
vehicle
Indigenous populations of
Australia and New Zealand
 Among most severely disadvantaged
 High road fatality rate compared to non-indigenous populations
 Cultural and language differences
Australia
New Zealand
 Drink driving
 Unlicensed driving
 Remoteness amplifies
problems and accounts
for much of the
disparity
 Over-representation is
particularly strong
among 15-24 year olds
 Disparities persist after
accounting for
differences in SES
International
 Many studies (UK, Europe, Israel, USA)
 Disadvantage associated with higher risk,
particularly for child pedestrians
 Concomitant factors:
– Environmental, e.g. location (especially remoteness),
exposure
– Behavioural factors, e.g. unlicensed driving, drug and
alcohol use
– Socio-cultural factors, i.e. peer group and culture
– Personal factors, e.g. health, self-efficacy
Existing interventions
 Low income earners (registration discounts and
discounts on drink drive programs)
 Indigenous communities (wide range)
 CALD communities (translation, education and
awareness raising, licensing assistance)
 Young drivers (supervised practice, first car safety)
 Children (proper restraint use and early childhood road
safety education)
 Engineering treatments
 Enforcement and diversionary programs
 Partnerships and community engagement
• Data sources
• Results so far (exploratory descriptive analysis)
• Next steps, methods and data sources
DATA ANALYSIS
Data sources (Australia)
 Crash data with postcode of crash involved
persons
– Vic, NSW, SA
– NZ (needs to be geocoded)
 SES data
– ABS Index of Relative Social Disadvantage (IRSD)
 Remoteness data
– ABS remoteness index
 Potential for inclusion of travel survey data
– e.g. ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use (SMVU)
Index of Relative Social Disadvantage
(Australia)
 Takes into account:
– Income
– Household occupancy
– Vehicle ownership
– Illness and disability
– % of residents speaking LOTE
– % of residents of indigenous origin
– Etc.
Preliminary results
(drivers and riders, Victoria)
Fatalities and serious injuries per 100 000
adult population
140.0
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
Major Cities
Inner Regional
40.0
20.0
0.0
Q1 (most
disad.)
Q2
Q3
IRSD quintile
Q4
Q5 (least
disad.)
Preliminary results
(drivers and riders, NSW)
450.0
Fatalities and injuries per
100 000 population
400.0
350.0
300.0
250.0
Major Cities
200.0
Inner Regional
150.0
100.0
Outer, rural and
remote
50.0
0.0
Q1 (most
disad.)
Q2
Q3
IRSD quintile
Q4
Q5 (least
disad.)
Fatalities and serious injuries per
100 000 population
Preliminary results
(drivers and riders, SA)
160.0
140.0
120.0
Major Cities
100.0
Inner Regional
80.0
Outer, rural and
remote
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
Q1 (most
disad.)
Q2
Q3
IRSD quintile
Q4
Q5 (least
disad.)
South Australia
(All road users, 10 years)
Number of persons
IRSD
Population
Quintile (2006)
Killed
Seriously
Injured
Rate per 100,000 population
Total
Killed
Seriously
Injured
Total
Q1
321 177
713
4 684
5 397
22.2
145.8
168.0
Q2
299 664
520
4 064
4 584
17.4
135.6
153.0
Q3
269 246
496
3 492
3 988
18.4
129.7
148.1
Q4
298 705
429
3 595
4 024
14.4
120.4
134.7
Q5
320 437
378
3 395
3 773
11.8
105.9
117.7
1 509 229
2 536
19 230
21 766
16.8
127.4
144.2
TOTAL
• Looking forward
YEARS 2 AND 3
Remainder of 2013 – Modelling
 Develop model for crash risk associated with
SES that takes into account:
– Demographic profile of area
– Remoteness
– Environmental factors (e.g. speed limits)
– Individual demographic factors (age, gender etc.)
– Behavioural factors (e.g. restraint use)
– Other explanatory factors (e.g. vehicle age)
2014/15
 detailed consultation regarding the operation
of programs for disadvantaged groups or
locations
 develop recommendations for actions to
address these issues
Acknowledgements
 Data providers in road agencies
 SS1761 Project Team:
– Dr Peter Cairney, Principal Behavioural Scientist
(ARRB)
– Anita Baruah, Senior Policy Analyst, Road Safety and
Network Access (VicRoads)
 Project steering committee
 Supervisor
– Dr Lyndon Walker, Swinburne University
victoria.pyta@arrb.com.au
+61 3 9881 1640