Burden, pattern and outcomes of road traffic injuries in a rural district of India

Abstract

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a leading public health problem and the understanding of RTIs in rural India is limited. The present report documents the burden, pattern, characteristics and outcomes of RTIs in a rural district of India using combined data sources: police and hospital. RTIs contributed for 38% of fatal and 39% of non-fatal injuries with an annual mortality rate of 18.1/100,000 population/year. Young males were affected most and two-wheeler users and pedestrians were involved in 45% and 20% of fatal crashes, respectively. Nearly half (51%) of fatal RTIs occurred on national highways of the district; 46% died immediately at the site. Among those hospitalised, 20% were under the influence of alcohol while use of helmets and seat belts was <5%. Trauma care was deficient in the district leading to greater number of referrals. Road safety should be given high importance in rural India with a focus on safe roads, safe vehicles and safe people along with trauma care.

Prevalence of road traffic accident in children: retrospective study in tertiary centre

“…However, this is probably an underestimate, as not all injuries are reported to the police. 6,7 The situation in India is worsening and road traffic injuries (RTI) have been increasing over the past twenty years .This may be partly due to the increase in number of vehicles on the road but mainly due to the absence of coordinated evidence-based policy to control the problem. In the 1998 study of highways the proportions of motor vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users were 32 and 68 per cent respectively, whereas the numbers for urban areas were 5%-10% vehicle occupants and the rest were vulnerable road users.…”

Official government statistics of road traffic deaths in India under-represent pedestrians and motorised two wheeler riders

“…Our literature search also identified two studies that had extracted information from case-level police reports 14 15. Gururaj et al 14 examined police case files for road traffic deaths in 2011 in Tumkur district in Karnataka state.…”

“…Gururaj et al 14 examined police case files for road traffic deaths in 2011 in Tumkur district in Karnataka state. They report that 20% of deaths were pedestrians and 45% were MTW riders, much higher than the percentages (9% pedestrians and 26% MTW riders) reported in official tabulations for the same year in Karnataka.…”

Health systems research initiative to tackle growing road traffic injuries in India

“…RTIs have been recognized globally as an important public health problem, as they account for 15-50% of all injuries in India (18)(19)(20). Due to the growth of motorization and rapid expansion of road networks, there has been an increase in RTIs over the recent years.…”