Indian Journal of Community Medicine (Apr 2024)
IJCM_49A: Mortality trends of road traffic accidents due to human errors in Chhattisgarh and India (2016-2022)
Abstract
Background: Road safety continues to be a major developmental issue, a public health concern and a leading cause of death and injury affecting not only the victims and their family but also the economy as a whole in terms of untimely deaths, disabilities and loss of potential income. India ranks 2nd in the number of road accidents and 1st in mortality due to RTA in the world. Road accidents are multi-causal due to interplay of various factors. These can be broadly categorized into those relating to (a) Human error (b) Road condition/ environment (c) Vehicle condition. Human errors for RTA include non-compliance to traffic rules and not using helmets and seatbelts, resulting in mortalities which can be mitigated by proper education, adherence and implementation of traffic rules. Objective: To analyze the mortality trends due to RTA by human errors in Chhattisgarh and India 2016-2022 Methodology: The RTA mortality statistics were retrieved from the Road accidents in India report published annually by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. A literature search was done in electronic databases like-PubMed, Google Scholar, other platforms using keywords- RTA mortality, Distracted driving Results: From 2016 to 2022, both Chhattisgarh and India experienced a steady rise in fatalities, peaking in 2022 due to overspeeding and helmet non-compliance. In 2019, India saw its peak in fatalities from alcohol-related driving, mobile use, and signal jumping, followed by a decline. Chhattisgarh experienced the highest signal jumping fatalities in 2017 and alcohol-relatedriving deaths in 2018 compared to other years Conclusion: The study reveals a decrease in road traffic accident fatalities caused by certain human errors post-2019, credited to the adoption of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019. Boosting public awareness and establishing robust surveillance measures are imperative in curbing fatalities caused by road traffic accidents (RTAs)
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