Exploring the Impacts of Safety Culture on Immigrants’ Vulnerability in Non-motorized Crashes: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Pedestrians and cyclists are a vulnerable group of road users. Immigrants are disproportionally represented in pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We postulate that the mismatch in safety culture between countries of their origin and the USA contribute to their vulnerability in pedestrian and cyclist crashes. Over time, the differences may disappear and immigrants' traffic behavior gravitates toward those of native-borns. We describe this process as safety assimilation. Using the pedestrian and cyclist crash database in New York City between 2001 and 2003, we examined the effects of foreignborn population, their countries of origin, and time of entry into the USA on census tract-level pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We find that neighborhoods with a higher concentration of immigrants, especially those from Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia, have more crashes. Our results also exhibit a pattern of the hypothesized safety assimilation process. The study suggests a higher level of vulnerability of immigrants to pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We propose that targeted policies and programs need to be developed for immigrants of different countries of origin.KEYWORDS Pedestrian and cyclist crash, Immigrants, Safety assimilation, Safety culture INTRODUCTIONWalking and cycling are healthy and environmentally friendly modes of transportation compared to automobile usage. Yet, it is undebatable that pedestrians and cyclists are more vulnerable than motorists in traffic collisions. Nationwide, a total of 4,378 pedestrian and 716 cyclist deaths were reported in 2008, 1,2 accounting for 13.7% of motor vehicle collision fatalities. Another 69,000 pedestrians and 52,000 cyclists were injured in traffic crashes in 2008. 3 Minorities are disproportionally represented in traffic fatalities and injuries. In 2001, 69% of the nation's population were non-Hispanic whites, and yet only 60% of the pedestrian deaths for which ethnicity was known were non-Hispanic whites. 4 In contrast, African-Americans were involved in more than 20% of the total pedestrian deaths, though they represented only 12% of the population. Likewise, 13.5% of the pedestrian deaths involved one or more Latinos, while they accounted Chen is with the

Bicycle helmet use and bicycling-related injury among young Canadians: an equity analysis

“…While previous research indicates that older male students may, as a matter of choice, engage in higher risk activities that put them at greater risk for injury [16], this is not likely a similar pattern for new immigrant students. In this case, immigrant young people may be at greater risk as a result of transitions across different cycling environments and “safety cultures” for themselves and their families [34], or inadequate preparation or access to appropriate resources to support their safe cycling in Canada [35]. …”

Realising car-free developments within compact cities

“…Furthermore, vulnerable road users, especially pedestrians (Yao et al, 2015) and cyclists (Vanlaar et al, 2016), have borne the traffic injury burden disproportionately. Among them, the weakest groups are the elderly (Loo and Tsui, 2016), children (DiMaggio et al, 2015) and the migrants (Chen et al, 2012). Car-free development, by removing private cars on roads and designing streets for people, has enormous potentials of achieving a multitude of sustainability goals of reducing environmental harm, supporting economic vitality and achieving social equity (Loo, 2002b), and contributing to the decoupling of economic growth with negative transport externalities, particularly carbon and traffic fatalities (Loo and Banister, 2016).…”

Characteristics and circumstances of injuries vary with ethnicity of different population groups living in the same country

“…Travel by public transport is safer than other modes of road travel (WHO 2004). Furthermore, immigrants bring with them the attitudes, perceived social norms and practices of their countries of origin (Chen, Lin, and Loo 2012). There is evidence to show that immigrants are less likely to participate in risk-taking behaviors than the native counterparts (Norredam et al 2013;Xiang et al 2007).…”