[Traffic accidents in a metropolitan area in Brazil, 1991-2000]

A time series study described the trend in motor vehicle accidents from 1991 to 2000, using data from the State Transit Department in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil. Rates were calculated for total motor vehicle accidents, number of casualties, and standardized mortality based on population and number of vehicles, comparing two periods (1991-1994 and 1995-2000), before and after the adoption of safety measures including compulsory seat belt use and the new National Transit Code (NTC). Vehicle accident and casualty rates were high and showed little variation during the study period. The mortality rate decreased from 25.7/100,000 inhabitants in 1995 to 18.1/100,000 in 1998 and remained stable thereafter. The only significant difference (p < 0.001) was in the mean motor vehicle accident mortality rate before and after the intervention. The case fatality rate decreased from 10.7% (1995) to 7% (2000). Although still representing a major public health problem in this important metropolitan area, the decrease in motor vehicle accident mortality was possibly due to interventions in 1995 and expanded NTC measures in 1998. Greater efforts to change driver and pedestrian behavior could further decrease the high number of accidents and related mortality.