Study aims to analyze the profile of fatal traffic accidents victims and quantify the impact of these deaths by the potential years of life lost (PYLL), in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We used an epidemiological approach for records of the Mortality Information from the Department of the Brazilian Unified Health. Between 1996 and 2007, there were 38.395 deaths, an annual average of 17.61 deaths per 100.000 inhabitants. There were 8894.46 PYLL per 100,000 inhabitants, performing 43.24 PYLL per death. Men, 20 to 59 years old, were the main casualties. This mortality ascended among the elderly. Generally, traffic accidents result from disorders in urban infrastructure, risky behavior of drivers and pedestrians, inefficiencies in the regulation/supervision of traffic. It is Complex, the impact on the health sector, mainly the loss of people of working age. Facing the results presented, it is expected to contribute to the development of new possibilities for confronting this disease
Public Health Nursing; Mortality; Accidents, Traffic; Potencial Years of Life Lost
