Traffic Accidents In India Research Articles

Big Data Analytics on Road Traffic Accidents in India: A Critical Statistical Review on Safety Measures and Awareness on Accidents

Big Data Analytics on Road Traffic Accidents in India: A Critical Statistical Review on Safety Measures and Awareness on Accidents

A randomized controlled trial of nurse-led Brief Focused Intervention for patients with alcohol use-related mild traumatic brain injury in the emergency and casualty services of a tertiary hospital.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the leading causes of road traffic accidents in India. Individuals with acute injuries often present to emergency hospital services. Carrying out brief interventions in the emergency can prevent further injury and even progression to severe patterns of drinking. However, there are no known studies from India examining the effectiveness of such interventions in emergency settings. Against this background, the objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-led Brief Focused Intervention (BFI) in comparison with the minimal intervention for patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) reporting to the emergency and casualty services of a tertiary hospital in Bengaluru, South India, who screened positive for alcohol use. The BFI comprised a video portraying the effects of alcohol on the brain and muscles and brief advice on how to reduce or avoid alcohol use. Subjects (N = 90) were randomly allocated to two groups: BFI (n = 45) or Minimal Intervention Group (MIG) (n = 45). Standardized tools were used to assess both groups on specific outcomes for up to six months following discharge from the emergency and casualty services. At the end of six months, complete data wasavailable for 73 patients. Participants' (N = 73) mean age was 35 years (standard deviation [SD]-11). Over the six-month follow-up, the BFI group reported significantly lesser quantity of alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test [AUDIT] Score - 5.03, SD 4.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.70, 6.35) compared to MIG (AUDIT Score - 9.76, SD 2.96, 95% CI = 8.73, 10.80), and fewer alcohol use-related problems in BFI group (Mean - 4.18, SD 3.21, 95% CI = 3.14, 5.22) compared to MIG (Mean - 5.88, SD 2.59, 95% CI = 4.98, 6.79). Results of logistic regression showed that being in MIG as well as baseline hazardous use of alcohol were associated with unfavorable outcomes at the end of six months follow-up. Findings provide the first known evidence from India for the effectiveness of nurse-led BFI in the emergency and casualty services in improving post-discharge outcomes for patients with alcohol use-related mild TBI. While the findings of the study are statistically significant, these findings also have significant clinical relevance, as they have shown that the BFI improved clinical outcomes. Thus, brief interventions should be implemented for these patients whenever possible in the Emergency setting.

Measuring the burden of accidental injuries in India: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Sample Survey (2017–18)

Globally, injuries are the leading cause of premature deaths and disability and account for nearly 9 per cent of total deaths worldwide. Like other countries, India also faces a very high burden of injuries, with the second most common cause of death and disability. Annually, 0.15 million people lose their lives due to accidental injuries/road traffic accidents in India, which is 11 per cent of the accident-related death worldwide. This study aims to analyse the socio-economic and demographic differentials in the magnitude of economic burden and coping strategies associated with accidental injuries in India. The study used the nationally representative cross-sectional data on the ‘Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health, (2017–18)’ of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Simple descriptive statistics have been used to measure the incidence and intensity of accidental injuries. The economic burden is estimated through out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure on accidental injuries and the use of different sources of finance to cope with the same. In addition, the logistic regression analysis has been used to analyse the association between socio-economic covariates and the likelihood of suffering from accidental injuries in India. The findings reveal that, unlike outpatient care, the high incidence in inpatient care reveals that hospitalisation is inevitable in most cases after accidental injuries. Among various socio-economic variables, the incidence of accidental cases is higher among individuals residing in urban areas, males, educated persons, and economically better-off sections of society. Also, the mean monthly OOP expenditure on the accidental injuries-affected population has been estimated at INR 2672 .46 (US$ 41.06) and INR 3041.64 (US$ 47.09) in inpatient and outpatient care, respectively. Almost the same sections and the individuals who received insurance spend more OOP expenditure on accidental injuries. However, OOP expenditure as a share of total consumption expenditure (TCE) is significantly high among their counterparts, such as rural inhabitants, illiterates, scheduled castes, the very poor and those who do not have any kind of health insurance coverage. In addition to savings/income, individuals depend more on the distress sources such as borrowings and selling of household assets to meet their OOP health expenditure in India. In conclusion, the high incidence of accidental injuries threatens people more than some of the other ailments in India. A strict motor vehicle act, administrative and political determination, awareness campaigns through various media platforms, diverse road lane systems and traffic norms can help reduce accidental fatalities in the country. Reducing the economic burden of accidental injuries requires increasing public spending on healthcare services as a percentage share of the country’s GDP. Furthermore, comprehensive universal health insurance coverage for all, including each component of healthcare expenditure, is the need of the hour.

Vanet‐TSMA: A traffic safety management approach for smart road transportation in vehicular ad hoc networks

SummaryOver the past two decades, vehicular collisions have been a significant concern for governments, researchers, and automobile manufacturers. However, collisions are unexpected and occur regularly on roads, resulting in deaths, infrastructure destruction, and health injuries. As a result, it is essential to avoid, prevent, and detect traffic collisions at the highest degree possible for minimizing human loss. In this article, the trend of road traffic accidents in India has been analyzed graphically. Towards the end, a VANET‐based traffic safety management approach (VANET‐TSMA) has been proposed to reduce road accidents in India. This approach uses message distribution, traffic management, and congestion control efficiently for reducing the overall rate of road accidents. This method is based on multiple information and communication technology (ICT)‐based safety mechanisms which include collision avoidance, collision detection, and traffic congestion avoidance for the protection of future connected automobiles on roads.

A review of effectiveness of speed reducing devices with focus on developing countries

The heterogeneous traffic conditions in India is making things more complicated in urban areas. Traffic accidents in India are increasing at an alarming rate due to the rapid growth of motor vehicles in the past few years. The number of accidents drop only at sites where speed restriction techniques are implemented for different vehicle categories, especially at locations like approaches to level crossings, negotiation points at sharp curves, approaches towards intersections, accident prone locations, residential streets, streets closures at schools and hospitals etc. In developing countries like India, speed humps and speed bumps are primarily used as speed reducing devices both in urban and rural areas, which is not the case in developed countries where speed bumps are used only on private grounds and speed humps are mainly used on residential roads in urban areas. The effectiveness of speed reducing devices are reviewed in this study to elaborate best practices and recognise gaps in research to set up few scopes for future research in this area. The literature review revealed that most of the speed humps in developing countries have faulty geometrical dimensions when compared to codal provisions leading to problems among road users. Though traditionally speed humps are known to reduce speed and increase safety, they too have disadvantages like, increase in travel time, increase in vehicle operating cost, decrease in capacity of roads and undesirable experience to drivers and passengers. Rumble strips on safety on rural roads on either side of a pedestrian crosswalks is an option to be further explored. Finally, in view of the Indian road conditions, it is observed that Indian guidelines concerning design of speed humps IRC 99-2018 are not compatible with best practice. Therefore, there is an imperial need to frame new guidelines for different type of roads.

Estimation of Socio-Economic Loss due to Road Traffic Accidents in India

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">India witnessed 151,113 road deaths in the year 2019 and this alarming number is due to increased urbanization, motorization and per capita income. India is home to the 2<sup>nd</sup> largest road network in the world and accounts for the highest number of road deaths globally. Curbing the menace of road accidents requires tactical road safety policies and their effective implementation. The meagre availability of factual data regarding socio-economic loss due to road accidents is proving to be a hindrance to the ideation and implementation of the policies. The Planning Commission estimated the social costs of road accidents to be 7.9 billion $ in 1999/2000 which was roughly 3% of the country’s GDP and this value was revised to 14.3 billion $ in 2011.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Absence of data regarding the loss due to road accidents in the recent times, has been a motivating factor to estimate the socio economic loss due to accidents on Indian roads. Road traffic accident casualties bring about a great deal of human suffering in terms of social, medical and economic costs. The data from in-depth accident databases, police records, medical, and insurance and government reports has been utilized to calculate the loss incurred.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">This realistic estimation brings out the magnitude of the loss to the eyes of the policymakers and public. The Human Capital (HC) method is used as the base method for evaluation of the socio-economic loss due to road accidents. The concept of Value of Statistical Life (VSL) and individual cost components from HC method are extended to the Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) and iRAP’s Rule of Thumb (RoT) methods. Irrespective of the method, the socio-economic loss for the year 2019 is estimated to be around 0.55% - 1.35% of India’s GDP. This reflects the paramount economic drag due to road casualties and highlights the importance of bringing in road safety policies to reduce road accidents, deaths and injuries. This study is one of the first to put the current accident figures in relation to the economic costs specifically for India and can be used as a basis for policy makers to further develop their studies to derive cost-benefit estimates for different measures.</div></div>

The role of social advocacy in reducing road traffic accidents in India

Road traffic accidents (RTA) account for a significant proportion of mortality and morbidity worldwide, especially the developing countries. ‘Hidden pandemics’ such as deaths due to RTA often receive minimal attention globally. If not addressed adequately, the forecast looks bleak, especially for the developing countries in the coming decades. Healthcare professionals have an important role in advocating measures to reduce injuries following RTA and, along with like-minded social individuals, can act as a powerful lobby to implement change. Following a ‘Public Interest Litigation or PIL’ by the Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) in 2012 – which challenged the Government to accept responsibility for this glaring problem and form an apex body to enforce road safety – the Supreme Court of India identified the existing road-safety laws to be inadequate. It created an ‘Empowered Committee’ which oversaw various new road safety measures implemented by respective state governments. A public movement called ‘UYIR’ (meaning ‘life’ in Tamil) was launched at Coimbatore to reduce RTA. Early results following the implementation of this program showed promising results with a reduction in major accidents. It emphasized that well-planned programs involving the general public could be the way forward in reducing accidents across the country. Hence, Social Advocacy is crucial when an individual or group supports and influences political, economic, and social decisions. Such advocacy aims to gain support in an adverse environment to create the necessary change for the better.

Ramifications of Roadways Conditions and Traffic Features on Roads Safety : A Safety Perspective for Jalandhar, Punjab

India is in a developing phase and safety on roads is at a premature stage. Accidents are increasing day by day leading to a great loss of life. Some people are disabled, others suffer damage to property and health, and degradation of environment resulting in a situation in India that is at a tocsin stage. Official records show that approximately 1,42,000 persons were killed and approximately 4,80,000 injured in traffic accidents in India in 2014 (NCRB 2015). However, this is underestimated since many accidents are off the records and all accidents are not reported. The high accident rate is due to inadequacy of highways and GT roads which cannot meet traffic demands or some other reasons like vehicular defect, poor road geometry or road user behaviour. These accidents deal a heavy blow to the economy of a country. Hence, road safety is a necessity for reduction in accidents.

Qualitative Investigation of the Influential Factors behind Unsafe Trucking Behaviors in India

India ranks first in the global fatalities rate related to traffic accidents. India’s trucking industry is highly unorganized compared with that in developed countries, as a result of which drivers do not get professional recognition in society. Low income, job insecurity, high-fatigue conditions, and continuous exposure to external environmental conditions cause job dissatisfaction, and the majority of traffic accidents in India are caused by driver negligence. This study aims to systematically examine the underlying factors that cause drivers’ unsafe behavior from the following four assessment levels: personal, professional, organizational, and external factors. A purposeful sampling-based survey method was employed to collect the data. The findings of this study were compared with the opinions of the experts and results from previous studies in the literature. The study results found that the contribution of professional and organizational factors to unsafe behavior is greatest compared with external and personal factors. The study concludes with recommendations for reducing drivers’ risk through planned driving schedules, ensuring social security through welfare schemes, and improving driving performance through proper training programs for preventing and minimizing damage caused by accidents, and recommends policy-based measures to trucking companies and regulatory bodies for minimizing accident occurrence.

Impact of Tamil Nadu accident and emergency care initiative (TAEI) programme on orthopaedic emergency fixation: Lesson from Coimbatore for low income countries

Introduction: Tamil Nadu accounted for 10.1% of the road traffic accidents in India. In a view to reduce the mortality and morbidity of trauma patients the Government of Tamil Nadu have come with an innovative idea of “Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency care Initiative (TAEI)” programme in 2016. This study done at our Institute of orthopaedics and traumatology, Coimbatore medical college hospital analysis the impact of TAEI on various aspects before and after its implementation.Materials and Method: This is a comparative study and the study period was from January 2017 to November 2019. The emergency orthopaedic trauma patients treated before implementation of TAEI in 2017(January –November) was analysed with after implementation of TAEI in 2019(January –November). We also compared the performance of the CMCHIS before and after the implementation of the TAEI programme. Results: The total emergency surgeries done before the TAEI implementation in 2017 were 732 cases and after TAEI implementation in 2019 were 1053 patients. The total number of intramedullary interlocking nailing done in emergency orthopaedic theatre before and after TAEI was 5 and 155 cases respectively. The total number of external fixator done before and after TAEI was 119 and 184 respectively. The total number of beneficiaries from the CMCHIS before TAEI before and after TAEI was 558 and 975 respectively.Conclusion: The TAEI programme is found to have a major impact on the emergency orthopaedic trauma care in various aspects and also helped in generating more fund for the Government of Tamil Nadu.

The Role of Helmet Fastening in Motorcycle Road Traffic Accidents.

Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among the Indian population. Motorcycle accidents are the most prominent type of injuries among road traffic accidents in India. In this prospective cross-sectional study, all the patients attending three centers in north Bangalore, with facial injuries occurring from a motorcycle accident, were included. The subjects were analyzed for the type of collision, helmet use, type of helmet use, and fastening status of the helmets. A total of 311 motorcyclists were included in this study for a period of 18 months (December 2015 to June 2017). There were 79.7% males and 20.3% females. The most prominent age group was 21 to 30 years. The percentage of riders sustaining facial injuries was significantly more in the non-helmeted group. The most common injuries in open face helmets were in the middle and lower third of the face, whereas in closed face helmets it was in the middle third of the face. The numbers of injuries were significantly higher in the nonfastened helmet group as compared with fastened helmet group. Helmet fixation is an important characteristic along with helmet type for the better effectiveness and safety of the helmets for the motorcyclists.

Identifying the causes of road traffic accidents in India: An empirical investigation

This study utilizes data for the period 2006–2015 to estimate the determinants of road fatality rates in the Indian states. We employ baseline regression, where the total traffic fatalities, total traffic injuries, rural road fatalities, and urban road fatalities are the functions of human errors in driving, weather conditions, and some control variables. This paper is exclusively focussed upon different sets of human‐driven factors in influencing the road fatality across the Indian states. Our empirical results show that reckless driving, defective motor conditions, bad weather, and reckless driving by bus, truck, and car drivers are found to cause road accidents. We further find that the increase in motorization rates and rash driving are the primary causes behind the road fatalities, and bad weather play a major role in causing road fatalities and injuries in urban areas. However, road fatalities are increasing; still, cases of under reporting, lack of proper road safety regulation, improper investigation procedures, increasing vehicle usages, and higher urbanization have made the matters quite worse in India.

Road Traffic Accidents in India: Need for Urgent attention and Solutions to Ensure Road Safety

The present study aims to analyse the road accidents in India at National, state and inter-city levels. According to the recent available statistics, there is age and gender-wise variations in the proportion of road traffic accidents and deaths where males have a very high percentage share of fatalities (85%) when compared to females (15%). Tamil Nadu had the highest percentage share of accidents (14.9) and Uttar Pradesh had the highest percentage share of fatalities (12.8). Some of the possible solution to combat this raising trend of road traffic accidents are- awareness initiatives, maintenance of good data base, planning and designing for road safety, remedial action at high crash sites, design for pedestrians and cyclists and implementation of strict speed limits. Thus there is an urgent need to provide emphasis on road safety and curtail the worsening situation of road traffic accidents, injuries and deaths in India which is the need of the hour.

Public health crisis of road traffic accidents in India: Risk factor assessment and recommendations on prevention on the behalf of the Academy of Family Physicians of India.

Roads are considered a sign of development bringing colossal benefits to community as socioeconomic and logistic facilitator. Yet, growth of road network has brought road crashes leading to civic pain from premature deaths of productive age group. In 2017, 16 citizens were killed and 53 injured every hour on Indian roads as per officially reported data, while a fair number go unreported. This is unacceptably high when compared with international standards. Risk correlates of road traffic injuries (RTIs) need to be redefined so as to form a continuum with other confounding factors that impact to take lives on road. Risk factors impacting RTIs vary from human components to the roles and responsibilities of healthcare stakeholders. We should have made roads safer for all citizens because a large percentage of population – children, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and the elderly – are most vulnerable. A taskforce was set up by the Academy of Family Physicians of India to scientifically analyze the literature available to assess risks and put forward appropriate recommendations.

Epidemiology of lower limb musculoskeletal trauma with associated vascular injuries in a tertiary care institute in India.

Background:Vascular trauma associated with bony injuries is an orthopaedic emergency. Lack of timely intervention can lead to loss of limb or even life. Inspite of the rising incidence of high speed road traffic accidents in India, there is paucity of literature regarding the demographic pattern, clinical morbidity, management strategies and outcome of arterial injuries associated with lower limb trauma. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology and outcome of lower extremity musculoskeletal trauma with associated vascular injuries in a tertiary care institute in India.Materials and Methods:All individuals who presented to our tertiary care trauma center from July 2013 to December 2014 with lower extremity vascular injury associated with lower limb fractures were identified from a retrospective trauma database for this descriptive study. For the 17 months, there were 82 lower extremity vascular trauma cases admitted in our trauma center, of which 50 cases were included in the study. 32 patients with crush injuries, traumatic amputations, and those with head injury and blunt trauma to chest or abdomen were excluded from the study.Results:Out of the 50 cases of lower extremity vascular injury with associated lower limb fractures, 19 limbs were salvaged, 28 amputated, and three patients expired. Young males in the age group of 20–39 years were frequently injured. Motor vehicle accident (MVA) (82%) was found to be the most common cause followed by pedestrian injury. Popliteal artery (62%) was the most common vessel injured, followed by femoral artery (28%). The salvageability percentage was much higher (64%) in the femoral artery injury group when compared to popliteal artery injury group (25%). There were 32 open fractures, with amputation rates (60%) being higher and all three cases of death falling in this group. In addition, the limb salvageability percentage was 43.2% when the patient presented within 12 h of injury and this decreased to a mere 16.7% when the patient had presented more than 24 h after injury.Conclusion:MVAs are the leading cause of vascular injuries in India. Road safety measures and prevention programs are the need of the hour to prevent these kinds of injuries in the future.

Road Traffic Accidents in India: Issues and Challenges

Abstract The main aim of this paper is to analyze the road accidents in India at national, state, and metropolitan city level. Analysis shows that the distribution of road accidental deaths and injuries in India varies according to age, gender, month and time. Age group 30-59 years is the most vulnerable population group, though males face higher level of fatalities and injuries than their female counterparts. Moreover, road accidents are relatively higher in extreme weather and during working hours. Analysis of road accident scenario at state and city level shows that there is a huge variation in fatality risk across states and cities. Fatality risk in 16 out of 35 states and union territories is higher than the all India average. Although, burden of road accidents in India is marginally lower in its metropolitan cities, almost 50% of the cities face higher fatality risk than their moffusil counterparts. In general, while in many developed and developing countries including China, road safety situation is generally improving, India faces a worsening situation. Without increased efforts and new initiatives, the total number of road traffic deaths in India is likely to cross the mark of 250,000 by the year 2025. There is thus an urgent need to recognize the worsening situation in road deaths and injuries and to take appropriate action.

A Research Study on Deaths Due to Road Traffic Accidents Which were Brought to Govt. Medical College Mortuary, Ananthapuram, Andhra Pradesh During 2016 year

Road traffic accidents are very common all over the world including India. Death of pedestrians due to road traffic accidents are also increasing day by day due to overcrowding of vehicles. The vehicle drivers do not follow the speed limits and pedestrians not following traffic signals. Drunken driving is one of the commonest causes of road traffic accidents in India. In India, over 1, 37, 000 people were killed in various road traffic accidents during 2013 and the count raised to 1, 46, 133 in 2015. It is said that one person is dying due to road traffic accident for every four minutes in India. It is projected globally that deaths due to road traffic accidents will occupy third place when compared with deaths due to global disease burden. This study was conducted on deaths due road traffic accidents in Ananthapuram region of Andhra Pradesh which were brought to Ananthapuram government medical college mortuary for post-mortem examination. This study was done to know the pattern of injuries leading to death, blood alcohol levels in the dead victims, age group affected, statistics of deaths among pedestrians and two wheeler drivers.

Road Traffic Accidents in India

ABSTRACT Road traffic accidents (RTAs) result in tremendous loss of lives and prolonged morbidity besides causing sufferings to relatives and friends. Loss of lives and useful working hours inflict heavy damage to a nation's economic activity, loss of breadwinner to family, and deprivation of family bond of love and security. Increasing traffic accidents and subsequent trauma creates heavy burden on our scarce funds and already overburdened hospitals. Road traffic accidents are one of the major causes of death and illness which is preventable. There is tremendous rise in RTAs due to increase in vehicular volume on our roads, incredible speeding of the vehicles, poor driving skills, drunk driving, bad roads, poor traffic control, and lack of public awareness, rampant indiscipline, incompetent authorities and lack of implementation of existing laws to tackle the menace of disrespect to law and rules. The solution to the problem lies in reducing the volume of traffic on roads by instituting efficient public transport system all over, like the one prevalent in advanced nations of the world, honest road engineering, universal education and training of all citizens in driving, creating awareness about road safety precautions, enforcing strict punishments upon offenders indulging in drunk driving and crossing the speed limits, and regulating control of traffic on highways and accident-prone areas. How to cite this article Sharma SM. Road Traffic Accidents in India. Int J Adv Integ Med Sci 2016;1(2):57-64.

Reducing risks of road traffic accidents in India: Policy initiatives and implementation

Reducing risks of road traffic accidents in India: Policy initiatives and implementation

Epidemiology of patients admitted to a major trauma centre in northern India

ObjectiveTrauma in India is an increasingly significant problem, particularly in light of rapid development and increasing motorization. Social changes are resulting in alterations in the epidemiology of trauma. The aim of the study was to assess the various epidemiological parameters that influence the cause of injury in the patients admitted to a major trauma centre in northern India. MethodsAn observational study of 748 patients chosen by random assortment was carried out over a period of 1 year (August 2008 to July 2009). Age, sex, injury type and pattern were noted. Injury mode of upper and lower limbs was also noted. ResultsInjuries occur predominately in the age group of 15-30 years. Males incurred more injury with male to female ratio of 6:1. The most vulnerable group was motorcycle users. Among the injured, farmers were the most commonly involved. Blunt injuries (94.92%) were much more common than penetrating injuries. Among patients with head injury, two wheelers related accidents were the most common (40.3%). Most spinal cord injuries were caused by falls from height (51.09%). Most lower limb fractures were simple type. Compound fractures of the lower limb were more common than upper limb fractures. ConclusionStrict enforcement of traffic rules, combined with improved infrastructure and behavior change can decrease the burden of road traffic accidents in India and other developing countries. This study could assist in raising the profile of road traffic accidents as a public health problem which needs to be addressed as a preventable cause of mortality and morbidity, and planning appropriate interventions for this major challenge. Preventive strategies should be made on the basis of these epidemiological trends.