Profile of Road Traffic Accident Cases attending North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, India

Introduction: Road traffic accidents are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. A road traffic accident can be defined as, an event that occurs on a way or street open to public traffic resulting in one or more persons being injured or killed, where at least one moving vehicle is involved. The important factors are human errors, driver fatigue, poor traffic sense, mechanical fault of vehicle, speeding and overtaking violation of traffic rules, poor road conditions, traffic congestion, road encroachment etc.Objectives: The present study was undertaken to study epidemiological profile of road traffic accidents. The pattern and factors were also explored in the study.Materials and methods: Setting based cross-sectional study done in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital among the victims attending the emergency wards in August 2016.A self-administered, well designed pretested semi structured questionnaire with anonymity of the respondent was used for data collection with the help of interview and record review and observation. Severely injured patients were excluded from the study and a total of80 patients were studied.Results: Two-wheelers were the commonest vehicle involved in vehicular accidents. Most of the patients were aged between 20 and 40 years. Majority were males, unskilled workers and from rural areas. Pedestrians were affected more. Most cases occurred between 6 pm to 12 am. Among severe injuries, the commonest were extremities. Poor road condition was one of the major factors found among the accident events.Conclusion:There are multiple factors associated with road traffic accidents. Lack of road safety measures and implementation of road safety laws are a great lack in the country. It is the need of the hour to address this issue and formulate comprehensive, scientific and realistic rules and regulations as well as evaluate its enforcement.