Road Traffic Accidents: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Introduction: Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) are the only public health problem for which society and decision makers still accept death and disability among young people on a large scale. The demographic, epidemiological and economic transition in India has changed the health scenario in a significant way during the last two decades.Methods: An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was carried out in PubMed, Medline, World Health Organization website and Google Scholar search engines. Relevant documents, reports, research articles focusing on the distribution and determinants of Road Traffic accidents (RTA) published in the period 1994 2014 were included in the review. A total of 87 articles on Road traffic accidents were included in this study. Results:The distribution and multiple determinants of RTA were identified, of which non usage of safety measures like helmets and seatbelts and influence of alcohol plays a vital role. Conclusion:Based on this study it is evident that prevention and control of most of the modifiable factors can bring about a change in the statistics that would ensure our future to be safer.