Background Analyses of indicators of health events are the main input to recognise a public health problem. Colombia does not have robust indicators of Road Traffic Mortality, and being a developing country, traffic events become important, and alternatives indicator are the key to provide guidance for public policy on road safety.

Aims/Objectives/Purpose To analyse an indicator of road traffic mortality based on a denominator from origin-destination survey in Cali, Colombia.

Methods Deaths Rate per Trips made by User (DRTU) corresponds to the rate of deaths established by the quotient of the number of deaths over number of trips per year and type of user (DRTU=(deaths/trips)×10.000 000)).

Results/Outcomes We calculated mortality rates for the period 2005 to 2010. The motorcyclists have the biggest DRTU, and this varied from 8.4 to 12.2 deaths×10.000.000 travels from 2005 to 2010, in pedestrians from 5.3 to 3.9, cyclists from 4.1 to 3.4, and drivers from 1.2 to 1.6. The classical indicator (which denominator is the total population), shows that the higher risk population are pedestrians, while the proposed indicator shows that the higher risk population are motorcyclists.

Significance/Contribution to the Field The study of indicators in road traffic events contributes to the recognition of vulnerable populations and their risk. The proposed indicator shows a different road user as the most vulnerable. This is an option for countries without a census of the population of road users. This problem should be considered in order to establish public health policy.