Résumé
This study presents a flexible model for risk-taking behavior and accident injury severity. It is
specifically designed to evaluate the impact of Via Sicura, a Swiss road safety program, on the
severity of accident outcomes. Our proposed model treats the risk-taking behavior of each driver
as a latent variable that depends on a number of socioeconomic and contextual factors, and whose
manifestation can be measured by means of behavioral indicators. The aggregated risk, a central
feature of our framework, represents the combined latent risk-taking behaviors among all drivers
within an accident and is successfully identified as explanatory of the severity of injuries sustained by all individuals involved. Our findings reveal that Via Sicura’s repressive measures successfully deter risk-taking behavior among drivers, preventing an estimated 63 fatal, 876 major and 2’303 minor injuries over a ten-year period.