Mortality rates in traffic accidents in Costa Rica

Abstract

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death by lost of productive life years and the leading cause of death for people under 45 years of age in Costa Rica. These numbers are very high, but they do not allow us to understand the risk differentials that exist by mode of travel or by level of exposure. To make appropriate comparisons between countries, modes of travel and time periods, it is essential to have crash rates that consider the effect of exposure, but Costa Rica does not have traditional data sources for calculating such exposure. Therefore, an alternative way of calculating exposure is necessary. In this article, the mortality rates for traffic accidents in Costa Rica are calculated for different modes of motorized transport, using the vehicle mileage reported during the Vehicle Technical Inspection and the reported road accident deaths for the years 2018 to 2021. The results show that the death rate per passenger kilometer for motorcycles is 15 times higher than for cars in Costa Rica and that the rate for buses is more than one hundred times lower than for cars, which makes public transport by bus the safest form of motorized transport in Costa Rica. During 2020, there was a significant decrease in the death rates from traffic accidents in Costa Rica due to the effects of the Pandemic, but these rates returned to pre-pandemic values in 2021. The motorcycle death rate is similar to that of other countries, but the automobile death rate is significantly higher. In addition, although death rates per population in many countries have decreased significantly in the last two decades, they remain very high in Costa Rica.