摘要
Public health literature suggests that democratic regimes significantly outperform non-democratic ones in reducing road fatalities, yet few studies delve into the underlying causal mechanisms. This study contends that this democratic effect is contingent upon the level of female civic engagement. The link between female civic engagement and road safety arises from the growing demand for safer roads driven by rising female labor participation. Using Global Burden of Disease data from 143 countries spanning 2001–2019, our one-way country fixed-effects models reveal a synergistic effect of female civic engagement and democratic experience in improving road safety. Based on these findings, we recommend that road safety campaigns prioritize promoting gender equality, such as increasing female labor participation and empowering civic engagement and involvement in policy processes, while simultaneously advocating for the adoption of more evidence-based road safety engineering measures.