Risky behavior of drivers of motorized two wheeled vehicles in India

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2005.11.002

Journal of Safety Research

Volume 37, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 149-158

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2005.11.002 Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction

Motorized two-wheeled vehicles (MTV) account for a large proportion of road traffic in India and the riders of these vehicles have a high risk of road traffic injuries. We report on the availability of drivers licenses, use of a helmet, driver behavior, and condition of vehicles for MTV drivers in Hyderabad, a city in India

Methods

Drivers of a MTV aged > 16 years were interviewed at petrol filling stations

Results

There were 4,183 MTV drivers who participated in the study. Four hundred sixty one (11%; 95% CI 9.7–12.3%) drivers had not obtained a drivers license and 798 (21.4%) had obtained a license without taking the mandatory driving test. Two thousand nine hundred twenty (69.8%; 95% CI 67.9–71.7%) drivers reported no/very occasional use of a helmet, the significant predictors of which included that those driving borrowed a MTV (odds ratio 7.90; 95% CI 3.40–18.40) or driving moped/scooterette/scooter as compared with motorcycle (3.32; 2.76–3.98), lower education (3.10; 2.66–3.61), age > 45 years (2.41; 1.63 – 3.57), and males (1.57; 1.16 – 2.13). Two thousand five hundred and eight (59.9%) drivers reported committing a traffic law violation at least once within the last 3 months. Overall, 1,222 (29.2%) drivers reported ever being caught by traffic police for a traffic law violation with data on violations available for 1,205 of these drivers, of whom 680 (56.4%) paid a fine, 310 (25.7%) paid by bribe, and 215 (17.8%) made no payment. The proportion of those who did not make payment for committed violation was significantly higher among females (46.8%) than males (16.3%). Two thousand fifty two (49%) of all MTVs had no rearview mirror

Conclusions

These data suggest the need to enact and enforce policy interventions for improving the drivers license system, mandatory use of a helmet, effective traffic law enforcement, and ensuring good vehicle condition to reduce the risk factors that potentially contribute to mortality and morbidity in road traffic crashes in MTV drivers in Indian cities.

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.

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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.

View full text

Risky behavior of drivers of motorized two wheeled vehicles in India

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Problem

Study population

Data analysis

Results

Discussion

Summary

Acknowledgements

Public Health

Accident Analysis and Prevention

COST 327: Motorcycle safety helmets

The lack of public health research output from India

BMC Public Health

Deaths due to road traffic crashes in Hyderabad city in India: Need for strengthening surveillance

National Medical Journal of India

Traffic law enforcement in Hyderabad, India

International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion

Category-wise vehicular strength in twin cities

Population Totals: India, Census of India 2001

Road accidents in India - 1970–2002

Total registered motor vehicles (category-wise) in India by states (as on 31 March 2003) - provisional

Injury: A leading cause of the global burden of disease

Traffic safety and health in Indian cities

Journal of Transport Infrastructure

Road safety in low-income countries: Issues and concerns regarding technology transfer from high-income countries

The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020