Objective:Toevaluatetheepidemiologiccharacteristicsofexpresswaytraffictraumain2040casesinZhejiangProvince.Methods:Thedataof2040casesofexpresswaytraffictraumatakenfromZhejiangProvincialExpresswayTrafficBureauwereanalyzedwithcomputertechniques.Results:Atotalof2040personswereinjuredin7963expresswaytrafficaccidentsinZhejiangProvincefromJanuary1999toDecember2001.Amongthem,435personsdied(mortality,21.3%)and1605wereinjured.Theeconomiclosseswereover170millionyuanRMB.Theaccidentscausedbyhumanfactorsaccountedfor84.9%(vehicledriversaccountingfor79.2%),whichmainlyincludedimpropermeasures(20.4%),steeringfailure(17.7%),insufficientlongitudinalspace(15.9%),overspeeddrive(12.5%),fatiguedrive(6.4%),loadingviolation(5.9%)andcarelessdrive(6.3%).Mechanicaltroublesandotherfactorstookup15.1%.Thereexistedobviousunevendistributionamongvariousregions.JiaxingandShaoxingwerethesectionswithhighincidenceofaccidents.Theaccidentsmostlyhappenedat12:00-18:00,butthecausing-deadonesmostconcentratedat0:00-6:00.Themainvictimswereyoungandmiddle-agedpeople(accountingfor72.3%),butaccident-strickenchildrenandelderlypersons(over70yearsold)tookuphighermortalities(30.2%and40.7%,respectively).Conclusions:Thenumberofexpresswaytrafficaccidentsandtheeconomiclossesareincreasingyearbyyear,withobviousunevendistributionatdifferentplaces,differenttimeandunderdifferentweatherconditions.Toreducetheaccidentfrequency,itisimportanttostrengthentheenforcementoftrafficregulation,tobalancethesystemof'person-vehicle-road',andtoimprovethesafetyconsciousnessofpeople.
