ObjectiveTo systematically review the major risk factors of road traffic injuries, so as to provide scientific basis for road traffic injuries prevention strategies. MethodsSuch databases as PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Springer, EBSCO, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data were searched from inception to March 31st, 2014, to collect case-control studies on the risk factors of motoring vehicle road traffic injuries. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature screening, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment were independently completed by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsEighteen studies involving 368 845 motor vehicle drivers who had traffic accidents and 411 147 motor vehicle drivers who had no traffic accident were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, the risk factors mainly included carelessness (OR=19.95, 95%CI 6.42 to 62.03), drunk driving (OR=9.36, 95%CI 4.62 to 18.95), driving without licence (OR=5.07, 95%CI 1.93 to 13.31), illegal operation (OR=4.87, 95%CI 1.98 to 11.93), fatigue driving (OR=4.08, 95%CI 3.21 to 5.18), and lack of driving experience (OR=3.81, 95%CI 2.08 to 6.97). ConclusionCarelessness, drunk driving, driving without licence, illegal operation, fatigue driving, and lack of driving experience are major risk factors of motor vehicle road traffic injuries in China. Controlling these risk factors can effectively reduce the incidence of motor vehicle road traffic injuries.