Road Traffic Accident (RTA)

Introduction: An accident has been defined as: “an unexpected, unplanned occurrence which may involve injury”. WHO defined in 1956 accident as an “unpremeditated event resulting in recognizable damage”. According to another definition, an accident is that occurrence in a sequence of events which usually produces unintended injury, death or property damage. There are different types of accident: i) RTA (Road Traffic Accident), ii) Industrial accidents, iii) household accidents, iv) sport accidents, Accident in public places etc.2 In many countries motor vehicle accidents rank first among all fatal accidents.1 Epidemiology: Some people (young male)¹ are more prone to accidents than others and susceptibility is increased by the effect of alcohol and other drugs as well as physiological state such as fatigue. Majority of accidents are preventable. Road traffic accidents have emerged as a major global public health problem of this century & are now recognized as “veritable neglected pandemic”. RTA is essentially caused by 1) Rapid increase in personalized modes of transport (agent); 2) A lack of road discipline (host) and 3) Improper roadway features (environment). The majority of Road traffic injuries occur in low-and middle-income countries.3 Males are more likely to be involved in road traffic crashes than females. During 2002 there were almost 1.19 million deaths from road accidents in the world. In addition, for every death there are as many as 50-100 minor injuries and 10-20 serious injury requiring long periods of expensive care, nursing and treatment.1 WHO said, without sustained action, RTA are predicted to become the 7th leading cause of death by 2030.4 In Bangladesh, around 8 persons die in road accident every day.5