Evaluation of a five-year Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program in Turkey. 2017

S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore MD, USA. Electronic address: sgupta23@jhu.edu.

OBJECTIVE Turkey was included in the Bloomberg Philanthropies funded Global Road Safety Program (2010-14) with Ankara and Afyonkarahisar (Afyon) selected for interventions to manage speed and encourage seat-belt use. The objectives of this study are to present the monitoring and evaluation findings of seat-belt use and speed in Afyon and Ankara over the five years and to assess overall impact of the program on road traffic injury, and death rates in Turkey. METHODS Quasi-experimental before after without comparison. METHODS In collaboration with the Middle East Technical University, roadside observations and interviews were coupled with secondary data to monitor changes in risk factors and outcomes at the two intervention sites. RESULTS The percentage of seat-belt use among drivers and front-seat passengers in Afyon and Ankara increased significantly between 2010 and 2014 with increased self-reported use and preceded by an increase in tickets (fines) for not using seat belts. There were uneven improvements in speed reduction. In Afyon, the average speed increased significantly from 46.3 km/h in 2012 to about 52.7 km/h in 2014 on roads where the speed limits were 50 km/h. In Ankara, the average speed remained less than 55 km/h during the program period (range: 50-54 km/h; P < 0.005) for roads where the speed limits were 50 km/h; however, the average speed on roads with speed limits of 70 km/h decreased significantly from 80.6 km/h in 2012 to 68.44 km/h in 2014 (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS The program contributed to increase in seat-belt use in Afyon and Ankara and by drawing political attention to the issue can contribute to improvements in road safety. We are optimistic that the visible motivation within Turkey to substantially reduce road traffic injuries will lead to increased program implementation matched with a robust evaluation program, with suitable controls.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009042 Motivation Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli. Incentives,Disincentives,Expectations,Disincentive,Expectation,Incentive,Motivations
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000063 Accidents, Traffic Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles. Traffic Collisions,Traffic Crashes,Traffic Accidents,Accident, Traffic,Collision, Traffic,Collisions, Traffic,Crashes, Traffic,Traffic Accident,Traffic Collision
D001334 Automobile Driving The effect of environmental or physiological factors on the driver and driving ability. Included are driving fatigue, and the effect of drugs, disease, and physical disabilities on driving. Automobile Drivings,Driving, Automobile,Drivings, Automobile
D012307 Risk Factors An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent. Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor
D012449 Safety Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property. Safeties
D012622 Seat Belts Restraining belts fastened to the frame of automobiles, aircraft, or other vehicles, and strapped around the person occupying the seat in the car or plane, intended to prevent the person from being thrown forward or out of the vehicle in case of sudden deceleration. Belt, Seat,Belts, Seat,Seat Belt
D014421 Turkey Country in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria. The capital is Ankara. Turkiye

Related Publications

S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
March 2017, Public health,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
May 2024, Globalization and health,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
April 2018, Accident; analysis and prevention,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
December 2013, Injury,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
August 1952, The American journal of roentgenology, radium therapy, and nuclear medicine,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
June 2006, Turkish journal of haematology : official journal of Turkish Society of Haematology,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
March 2020, International journal of injury control and safety promotion,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
June 2004, Injury control and safety promotion,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
January 2023, American journal of lifestyle medicine,
S Gupta, and C Hoe, and T Özkan, and T J Lajunen, and F Vursavas, and S Sener, and A A Hyder
June 2007, International journal of injury control and safety promotion,
Copied contents to your clipboard!