Traffic accidents in Brazil: daily aggression against urban environment

Abstract

On average. one person dies in a tramc accident. in Brazil. every 10 minutes. Every year, 50.000 fatalities are expected, as are at least 350.000 persons injured. These accidents are a particular problem in urban areas which concentrate 86% of ali injury accidents in the country. Traffic accidents may be considered the source of greatest risk for Brazilians. Historically, the main thrust of policy for transport has been to give accessibility. However, the environrnent is another component of the urban tramc problem which tends to be in conflict with the former. Measures that can be adopted in order to reduce road accident occurrence can be summarized according to their most important characteristic: the reduction of exposure to risk. This paper discusses three alternatives to promote this decrease: the reduction in the amount of trips and in the length of urban journeys, the implementation of safer modes of transporto and finally the treatment given to road infrastructure.