Comparison of on-reserve road versus off-reserve road motor vehicle crashes in Saskatchewan, Canada: a case control study

Abstract

Background: There is an overwhelmingly high incidence of severe injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) among Aboriginal Canadians as compared with the general population.

Methods: The authors obtained MVC data for a 3-year period, 2003-2005, from Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) for collisions occurring on on-reserve roads (n = 1270) together with a randomly selected sample of MVCs from off-reserve roads (n = 1270) in Saskatchewan. They compared the collision characteristics using bivariate and multiple logistic regressions.

Results: On-reserve MVCs were more likely to include multiple collisions and result in severe injuries than the off-reserve sample. A number of factors were significantly related to the increased risk of on-reserve collisions as compared with the reference group for each variable.

Interpretation: Factors from all 3 levels (human, environmental, and vehicle factors) are associated with on-reserve MVCs.