ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

Context : Road traffic accidents are a major yet neglected publichealth problem in developing countries. Trends in motorization indicate an increase in road traffic injuries;furthermore, by 2020, they could rank third in the order of burden of disease Road traffic accidents are an importantyet preventable cause of death and disability in developing countries, like Pakistan. Objective: To explorepreventable aspects of the road traffic accidents. Design: Cross sectional study Setting: Casualty department ofDistrict Head Quarter Teaching hospital Dera Ismail Khan. Patients & Methods: All non-fatal and non-comatosecases of road traffic accidents victims reporting to casualty department were included in the study. The victims ofthe accidents were interviewed to obtain information about circumstances leading to accidents. The informationcollected comprised: time of accidents, nature of injury, narcotic consumption of driver, condition of road andvehicle, safety belts, road signs and vehicle speed beside demographic characteristics of respondents. Results:Age revealed that age group 21-25 years were highly affected 18 % while age group 51-55 years were leastaffected 2 %. Among them were male 76 % and were female 24%. 93 victims belong to rural area ( 62%) while 57were from urban (38%). Among victims, 37% were motorcyclist, 23% bicyclist , 22% motorized two-wheelers and18% bus users. The accidents were more common during the daytime in 100 cases (66%). Fractures of bones wascommon injury in 90 cases (60%) afflicted to the victims followed by multiple injuries like blunt injuries, abrasionsand lacerations. Among victims , only 2% used protective helmets. All helmet users were motorcyclists. No seatbelts were found to have been used by the victims. There was no evidence of any narcotics consumption by thedriver prior to accidents. Conclusion: Road traffic accidents are predictable and preventable but good data isimportant to understand the ways in which road safety interventions can be effective. Cost-effective preventivemeasures can be designed to address this global problem.