Abstract

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are an important cause of death and injury in Colombia and Brazil. This burden is not uniform across countries and cities. Understanding these differences and similarities in road traffic behaviors is key in designing effective RTI interventions. This study is aimed to assess such differences by comparing observed road safety behaviors in three South American cities, Bogotá (Colombia), and São Paulo and Fortaleza (Brazil). As part of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), observational studies were conducted in Bogotá, Fortaleza, and São Paulo. Trained observers recorded road safety behavior (speeding, helmet use, seatbelt use and drink driving) every six months between August 2015 and September 2017. Around 1.5 million observations in these risk factors have been collected throughout six rounds of data collection.

It was found that Bogotá and São Paulo had varying rates of speeding, very dependent on changes in policy and enforcement circumstances, whereas Fortaleza maintained relatively high and stables rates. Rates of seatbelt and correct helmet use among all passengers were higher in São Paulo than Bogotá and Fortaleza. Drink driving prevalence was higher in Sao Paulo than Fortaleza and Bogotá. Fortaleza has experienced a reducing trend in drink driving prevalence throughout the project. In São Paulo, refusal rates reached 76%.

Important regional differences in road safety risk factors highlight the need for tailored interventions in South American cities. Speeding is a priority for Bogotá and Fortaleza. São Paulo’s alcohol results illustrate the urgency for drink driving-based interventions and correct helmet use is an increasingly important need in Bogotá and Fortaleza. These results are being used to develop specific interventions for BIGRS. These results are of interest for policy makers in Latin American cities and other middle-income countries where these interventions can be piloted and if effective, scaled up and replicated.