OA20221. Immigrants and road traffic safety: A comparison of cities

Abstract Background Türkiye is ranked 2nd among the countries hosting refugees and number of immigrants have been increasing. Previous research stated that road traffic injuries was among the leading causes of injury among refugees, yet the links between migration and road traffic safety is not fully understood. The current study examines the relationship between proportion of migrants and road traffic safety outcomes in Türkiye by a comparison of cities. Methods Data were obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute’s publicly available datasets. For each case, number of immigrants, crashes, injuries, and deaths were normalized by the number of residents and number of vehicles in the city. In doing so, number of immigrants, crashes, injuries, and deaths per 1000 residents and registered vehicles were computed. Pearson correlation coefficients were then computed using these normalized data to examine the relationships between proportion of immigrants in the city and road traffic safety indicators. Results According to the results, number of immigrants per 1000 residents was positively correlated with crashes per 1000 residents (r = .45), death/injury crashes per 1000 residents (r =.36), and injuries per 1000 residents (r =.33). On the other hand, number of immigrants per 1000 residents was negatively correlated with death/injury crashes per 1000 vehicles (r = -.34), and injuries per 1000 vehicles (r = -.34). When coefficients were calculated separately for males and females, it was observed that they were slightly stronger for females. Conclusions The findings indicated that the cities with a denser immigrant population were at a higher risk in terms road traffic crashes and injuries. A causal relationship cannot be established. Comparison of population-based and vehicle-based normalizations, as well as the difference between death and injury findings, suggest that pedestrian crashes may be a priority issue in relation to immigrants. Key messages • Within Türkiye, cities with a denser immigrant population seems to have worse road traffic safety performance. The causal links underlying this relationship require further investigation. • Immigrant density was associated with injuries, but not deaths. Also, relationships existed with population-based, but not vehicle-based statistics, highlighting pedestrian crashes. Topic International migration, traffic crashes, traffic accidents.