Injuries in STS travel

The aim was to study injured passengers from incidents during Special Transportation Services (STS) in Sweden. A “travel chain perspective” was utilized, i.e., the entire journey from door to door was included in the analyses. The current study limited the scope to the use of passenger cars and mini buses. A mixed methods approach was used, involving passengers and service providers in quantitative research methods. The results showed that the injury incidence rate in STS is considerable, i.e. 3.2 per 100,000 trips. Most of injuries, ~ 85% was categorized as “slight injury”, while only a few percentage, at the very most 15%, suffered a “severe injury”. Mainly to non-collision injury incidents involving elderly and frail passengers, easily sustaining injuries from minor to moderate external violence were found. Typically, this violence was affecting an older female STS-user while entering/exiting the vehicle or injuries caused by falls when the vehicle was harshly braking, turning or accelerating. Future injury mitigation should focus on preventive safety for boarding and alighting procedures and for normal riding in the vehicle. Safety measures should be taken on the design of the vehicle entrances, wheelchair securement equipment and procedures, postural support of the passengers, and general safety management processes in STS.