Risky behavior of drivers of motorized two wheeled vehicles in India
Section snippets
Problem
Road traffic injuries cause a significant amount of injury-related mortality and morbidity around the world with an estimated 1.2 million people killed and about 20–50 million injured on the roads annually (Peden et al., 2004); they are ranked among the top 10 leading causes of death worldwide (Krug, 1999, Murray & Lopez, 1996, Peden et al., 2004). Nearly 85% of the global burden of road traffic injuries is accounted for by the low- and middle-income countries (Peden et al., 2004). Projections
Study population
The study participants were selected from MTV drivers in Hyderabad. The MTV included: moped (< 100 cc engine), scooterette (60–105 cc engine), scooter (100–150 cc engine), and motorcycle (> 100 cc engine).
The study participants were recruited at the petrol filling stations in the city. Four oil companies retail petrol through self-owned or dealer-owned petrol filling stations in the city. All except one provided us with the list of their petrol filling stations after we discussed with them the
Data analysis
The main outcome variables assessed in the analyses were: not having a drivers license, no or very occasional use of a helmet, driving behavior, traffic law violations committed, and vehicle condition. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Univariate analyses were conducted for the association of these outcome variables with other characteristics, and chi-square test for significance is reported. For this analysis, the traffic law violations were classified as - driving violations (e.g., red
Results
Attempt was made to contact 6,150 MTV drivers by the study team. Of these 984 (16%) drivers did not stop, 157 (2.5%) asked not be disturbed and did not hear about the study, and 5,009 (81.4%) stopped to listen to the purpose of the study. Of these 5,009 drivers, 4,183 (83.5%) participated in the study.
Table 1 describes the participant details. The majority of the participants were males and literate, and a little over half were between 16 to 30 years of age and were the main income earners in
Discussion
Although all types of road users are at risk of being injured or killed in a road traffic crash, the pedestrians and two-wheeled vehicle riders are at a higher risk than the other road users, and they also bear the greatest burden of injury in the low- and middle-income countries (Dandona & Mishra, 2004, Ghaffar et al., 2004, Mohan, 2002, Nantulya & Reich, 2002, Nantulya & Reich, 2003, Odero et al., 1997, Ojha, 2002, Peden et al., 2004, Wang et al., 2003, Yang & Kim, 2003). We have documented
Summary
Motorized two-wheeled vehicles account for a large proportion of road traffic in India and the riders of these vehicles have a high risk of road traffic injuries. The data from this study show significant unlicensed driving, low helmet use, high rate of traffic law violations by these riders, and poor vehicle condition for the motorized two-wheeled vehicles in an Indian city. These data suggest the need to improve the driving license system, enforce mandatory use of a helmet, make traffic law
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge K.Venkatagopalakrishna and Ashish Mishra for supervising data collection, Arun Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Rajeshwar Rao, R. Satya Prasad, Sripad Rajolkar, T. Sudhir Raj, Vamshi Krishna, and K. Kavitha for interviewing the study participants, and S. Radhakrishnan and V.S. Udaya Bhaskar for designing the database for the study. We thank the representatives of the oil companies and the managers of petrol filling stations for facilitating this study.
Rakhi Dandona, PhD, is Associate Professor with the Health Studies Area at the Centre for Human Development, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. She is trained in public health, and has experience in population-based behavioral and clinical research dealing with road traffic injuries, HIV/AIDS, blindness and tuberculosis. She has published over 40 research papers in international and national peer-reviewed journals and has contributed two book chapters. Her professional interest
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Rakhi Dandona, PhD, is Associate Professor with the Health Studies Area at the Centre for Human Development, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. She is trained in public health, and has experience in population-based behavioral and clinical research dealing with road traffic injuries, HIV/AIDS, blindness and tuberculosis. She has published over 40 research papers in international and national peer-reviewed journals and has contributed two book chapters. Her professional interest is to contribute to the scientific evidence base to improve population health in India with specific focus on road traffic injuries and HIV/AIDS. She was previously Faculty at the International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye Care, Hyderabad, India.
G. Anil Kumar, PhD, is Consultant Biostatistician with the Health Studies Area at the Centre for Human Development, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. He is trained in demography and statistics, and has skills in developing and managing large data sets. He is currently involved in data management and analysis of large studies on HIV/AIDS and road traffic injuries. He has previously worked as statistician and lecturer in demography at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry, India.
Lalit Dandona, MD, MPH, is Chairperson of the Health Studies Area and Director of the Centre for Human Development, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. His past affiliation included the Johns Hopkins University, USA. The focus of his work is on epidemiology and public health studies and their application to improve population health. He has led several large public health research studies in India. He has over 85 publications in international and national peer-reviewed professional journals, and has served on the editorial board of two journals.