Number of motor vehicle traffic-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
Current Value
34,149
Definition
Story Behind the Curve
Injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes account for approximately 40,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms each year in Connecticut. Between 2007 and 2014, the number of ED visits and hospitalizations related to motor vehicle traffic crashes decreased slightly, but still remains high. The Healthy CT 2020 objective is to reduce the number of ED visits and hospitalizations by 10% between 2010 and 2020.
Note that numbers before 2015 cannot be directly compared to numbers from 2016 onwards due to a change in data classification that started in October 2015.
Data last updated June 2019. Next data update is expected 8/31/2020.
Partners
Potential Partners
Connecticut Department of Public Health; Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles; Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate; State Department of Education; Connecticut Judicial Branch; Connecticut Department of Transportation; Office of the Child Advocate; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other federal agencies; law enforcement; regional planning organizations; local public health agencies; health care providers including hospitals, emergency medical services, nurses, and emergency physicians; health professional associations; organizations and coalitions focused on prevention of motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and child safety; and others.
What Works
1) Guide to Community Preventive Services for Motor Vehicle-Related Injury Prevention;
2) Countermeasures that Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices, Third Edition;
3) The Handbook of Injury and Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control - Interventions to Prevent Motor Vehicle Injuries
Strategy
Advocate for increased DUI and sobriety check-points.
Advocate for re-testing for drivers aged 80 and over.
Advocate for high visibility enforcement of distracted driving laws.
Advocate for increased public awareness of the adverse effects of polypharmacy, especially among the older adult population.
Expand the current educational awareness campaign on driving under the influence.
Expand the current educational awareness campaign on Connecticut graduated driving licensing laws.