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Street lighting for preventing road traffic injuries
1Institute of Health and Society, University of Newcastle, 19-21 Claremont Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK, NE2 4AA. fiona.beyer@ncl.ac.uk
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|January 23, 2009
Summary
Street lighting may reduce road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. However, more research is needed to confirm its effectiveness, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Transportation Safety
- Environmental Engineering
Background:
- Road traffic crashes are a significant global cause of death and injury, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
- Traffic injuries are projected to become the third leading cause of global disease burden.
- Street lighting is a potential low-cost intervention to mitigate traffic crashes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of street lighting on road traffic crash injuries.
- To synthesize evidence from controlled studies on street lighting and crash outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials (randomized, non-randomized, controlled before-after).
- Searched multiple databases including Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and TRANSPORT up to October 2008.
- Data extraction and analysis performed by two independent reviewers.
Main Results:
- 16 controlled before-after studies were included; 14 contributed to the meta-analysis.
- Street lighting showed a reduction in total crashes when compared to area controls (pooled RR = 0.45) and daytime controls (pooled RR = 0.68).
- Significant reductions were observed for total injury crashes (RR = 0.78 vs. area control, RR = 0.68 vs. daytime control) and fatal crashes (RR = 0.33 vs. daytime control).
Conclusions:
- Street lighting appears to be effective in preventing road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
- The methodological quality of included studies was generally poor.
- Further high-quality research is recommended, particularly in low- and middle-income settings, to confirm these findings.
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