This is a study of hospital treated motor vehicle injuriesrnoccurring in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Injuries are desc ribed inrnterms of their circumstance, type, and consequence . Driversrncaus ing injury and their vehicles were compared with randomlyrnselected control drivers in order to identify important driverrnand vehicle determinants of injury. The investigation wasrncarried out between August 21, 1988 and November 12, 1988.rnDuring the twelve week period of study, 1050 hospitalrntreated injuries were identified, for an overall incidencerndensity of 279.4 per 100,000 person years. The mortality raternwas 17.6 per 100,000 populati on per year and these fatalitiesrnaccounted for an estimated 11,154 years of potential life l ostrnbefore age 65. The annua l vehi c le inflicted injury i ncidencerndensity rate was 94 .6 in j u r i es pe r 1,000 cars registered.rnThe majori t y ( 90 . 6%) of the injured we re pedestrians andrn48.9% were between 11 and 30 years of age. The commonest bodyrnparts affected was multiple parts (43.6%), the extremitiesrn(26.5%) and the head (22.0%). The most frequent type of injur iesrnwere l acerations (42.1.%) and fractures (14.9%).rnDriver characteristics plac ing an individual at increasedrnrisk of inflicting injury were mal e gender, under age 25 withrnless than 5 years driving e xperiences , a nd being pri vatelyrnemployed with a taxi o r sma ll bu s d ri vers licence. Elevatedrnrisks were also f ound fo r the following motor vehiclernrncharacteristics; buses, taxis, privat e ownership