Effect on road traffic injuries of criminalizing road traffic offences: a time–series study

An example of the usefulness of joinpoint trend analysis for assessing changes in traffic safety policies

“…The fact that DDTI joinpoints match with the introduction of relevant traffic safety regulations might suggest, although never prove, a causal link, which could be further investigated with an adequate methodology. In any case, our results for global DDTI rates are consistent with previous analytical studies (Novoa et al, 2010a(Novoa et al, , 2011Pulido et al, 2010). An analytic approach could have been adopted, establishing previous causal hypotheses about the positive effects of a specific regulation or intervention and looking to see if a joinpoint appears shortly before or coincident with its introduction.…”

Incidence trends of injury among the elderly in Spain, 2000–2010

“…This descending trend had already been observed in Spain38 and for some specific diagnoses,21 and can be attributed to the effectiveness of road safety policies implemented in recent years 39…”

Trends in mortality due to motor vehicle traffic accident injuries between 1987 and 2011 in a Spanish region (Comunitat Valenciana)

“…In this regard, Novoa et al (2011b) proves that the number of kilometres covered on interurban roads decreased during the period 2008-2009 in Spain, which naturally affected the risk of death.…”

“…Novoa et al (2011b) estimated that the number of deaths due to MVTA injuries in men decreased significantly between 2000 and 2009, before and after the amendment of sanctions. By age group, young people and young adults benefited most (decrease of serious injuries and fatalities by 19.2% and 17.8%, respectively).…”