The Safety of Transnational Imported Second-Hand Cars: A Case Study on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Crashes in Romania

Certain features of imported second-hand cars (e.g., age, degree of wear and tear, technical design) can increase their likelihood for traffic crashes. Three official datasets which cover an eight year period (2008-2015) are used to test the connection between importation of second-hand cars and different types of traffic crashes. The traffic crashes database was provided by the Traffic Department of the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police (GIRPTD). The car registration database was provided by Driving-License and Vehicles-Registration Direction (DLVRD). Right-hand driving (RHD) cars database was provided by the Romanian Automotive Registry (RAR). A spatio-temporal visualization of data was performed using Geographic Information System (GIS) while for the statistical analysis we use regression models and Pearson-Correlation-coefficient. The analysis suggests that a significant part of the variation in the volume of traffic accidents can be explained by the volume of imported second-hand cars at the county level. Moreover, an even stronger direct relation exists between the number of imported second-hand cars and Severe Traffic Accidents but also in the case of RHD imported second-hand cars. The overall impact of imported second-hand cars on the traffic safety in Romania is significant but small in comparison to other types of car registration. Study results belong to the category of empirical evidence production which can improve the quality of existing traffic regulations focused both on organizing and ensuring traffic safety, and on the policy of sustainable transport infrastructure development.