Road Safety Practices While Driving Among Non-Medical University Students in Karachi

Abstract

Background: Unsafe road safety practices and disregard for traffic laws among university students have emerged as significant problem that warrants urgent attention. Objective: To assess the road safety practices of non-medical university students of Karachi. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in four non-medical universities in Karachi from August 2017 to February 2018. A self-administered questionnaire assessing road safety practices was filled out by 290 students. The chi-square test was used to detect associations of practices among various categories. Results: Out of 290 respondents, 66.2% were male and 33.8% were female. The majority (65.9%) were aged between 18-25 years, and 34% aged between 25-35 years. The majority (77.6%) had a valid driving license. Most of the students (61.7%) drove cars, 31.3% rode motorcycles/motorbikes and 6.8% drove both car and motorcycle. Fifty-five percent had incorrect and 45% had correct road safety practices. The most common incorrect practices were racing with neighbouring vehicles, using mobile phones, listening to music, and smoking. Among car-driving student respondents with correct practices, the majority were female (65.8%) and had started driving after 18 years of age. Among motorcycle-riding students with correct practices, 86% had a driver's license while for those with incorrect road safety practices, 87% started riding below 18 years of age and 29.3% had met with an RTA. Among respondents driving both cars and motorcycles, 71.4% had a driver's license. Conclusion: Road safety practices were found to be unsafe among university students. Significant associations were observed with gender (0.003) and the presence of a driver's license (0.000).