Does street lighting reduce injuries caused by road traffic accidents? Evidence Update, Trauma Series, June 2011

Abstract

Each Evidence Update is a 2-page summary of a Cochrane Review of healthcare interventions relevant to people in low-income and middle-income countries. This Evidence Update is adapted from Beyer FR, Ker K. Street lighting for preventing road traffic injuries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 1. Art. No: CD004728. DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD004728.pub2. By 2020, an estimated 2.3 million people will die each year in road traffic crashes, 90% of them in low- and middle-income countries. The risk of crashing is higher in the dark than in daylight; street lighting is a relatively low cost intervention that may prevent crashes. The authors of the review concluded that evidence on the effects of street lighting on death and injury in road-users at night is limited