COVID-19 lockdown and reduction of traffic accidents in Tarragona province, Spain

This paper analyses the impact that the lockdown decreed by the Spanish Government to combat the spread of COVID-19 has had on traffic accidents in Tarragona province (Spain). During the studied period of the lockdown (March 16 - April 26 2020) the number of accidents per day fell by 74,3% in copari...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Òscar Saladié, Edgar Bustamante, Aaron Gutiérrez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-11-01
Series:Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220301299
Description
Summary:This paper analyses the impact that the lockdown decreed by the Spanish Government to combat the spread of COVID-19 has had on traffic accidents in Tarragona province (Spain). During the studied period of the lockdown (March 16 - April 26 2020) the number of accidents per day fell by 74,3% in coparison with those in February 14-20 (reference week) and 76% in respect to the equivalent period in 2018-2019. This reduction of accidents has been higher than the decrease of mobility during the same reference period (62.9%). This suggests a multiplicative positive effect of traffic reduction on roads safety. Our findings provide new evidences of the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on transportation and of how it could be used as a catalyst to promote more sustainable and secure transport systems.
ISSN:2590-1982