Failure in the Control of Traffic Crash-Related Injuries in Spain: The Right Answer for the Wrong Question?

Abstract

Although various measures have been implemented in Spain with the aim to modyfing the behavior of motor vehicle users, it has not been observed a descending trend in traffic accident and injuries from traffic accident. This article considers the question of whether the measures taken to reduce motor vehicle crash-related injuries in Spain have targeted the causes that are truly responsible for this trend. Using several sources of data, beginning in 1990 it has been observed a significant reduction in traffic accidents and their consequences, but in the second half of the 90s the growth in motor vehicle crash-related injuries was similar to the increase observed in the 80s. Likewise per capita alcohol consumption shows a downward trend from 1980 while the number of injuries has been strong associated with the economic cycle during the last twenty years. We conclude pointing out that intervention measures to control this problem in Spain have focused mainly on modifying behaviour that increases the risk and severity of traffic accident injuries and have ignored the macro-economic determinants that explain the trend in the frequency of this health problem.