Role of citizens in preventing road accidents

At the second annual general and scientific meeting of the Orthopaedic Association of Ghana on Friday, May 3, 2022, Dr Lawrence Ofori-Boadu provided data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) showing that in 2019, transport-related injuries alone accounted for about 93,379 cases that were reported. In 2020, the figure increased to 111,931 cases, while in 2021, transport-related injuries recorded were 125,673. (Ref. Daily Graphic May 16, 2022). These statistics are worrying and require urgent action from those responsible for road transport safety in Ghana. Ghana currently ranks 46th out of 183 countries assessed in the world with a death rate of 31.33 per 100,000 persons annually (Ref. www.worldlifeexpectancy.com) as of August 28, 2022. The current body of knowledge on accident prevention indicates that accidents occur largely because of management or management system failures. The question in Ghana is: Which public institution(s) is or are responsible for management of safety on our roads? Who is responsible for safety on our roads in Ghana? Per Section 2 of Act 569 (which set up DVLA), the responsibility for prevention of road traffic accidents in Ghana has been entrusted to the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA). Section 2 of the act states: “The object of the authority is to promote good driving standards in the country; and ensure the use of roadworthy vehicles on the roads and in other public places.” Functions The functions of the authority are listed unde...

A police officer is a warranted law employee of police force. Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals, prevention and detection of crime, protection and assistance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with the other duties and powers. Some officers may also be trained in special duties, such as counter-terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, civil law enforcement and investigation techniques into major crime including fraud, rape, murder and drug trafficking. Many police officers wear a corresponding uniform; some police officers are plain –clothed in order to dissimulate as ordinary citizens. But what is the role of police officers in reducing road accidents? • Educating Road Users. It is important that people receive road safety education. A formal road safety education in an educational environment outside of school is also an effective means of road safety training. Police officers, road safety professionals and educators must plan and support road safeties programs and train the educators. Education should be based on practical training in a realistic road environment such as training in crossing streets, crossing near parked cars and crossing at intersections. • Directing And Diverting Traffic, Divert Is To Change The Direction In Which Something Travels. The police will divert traffic if there has been an accident that...

Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. Road Safety is a very important issue in the country. Nearly 5 lakh road accidents were reported in India in 2013, in which more than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives. Modi government is planning to unfold a new law for road safety with more stringent punishment for violation of traffic rules. But, the responsibility to contain road accidents falls only on government? Are we the citizens of this country playing our role? Let’s see: Yes: -A prominent reason of these accidents is violation of rules by individuals. Government cannot keep an eye on every vehicle’s or motorbike’s movement. -Many people consider helmet as a headache and prefer cheap substandard quality’s helmet even when they know this may prove fatal. Their sole purpose is to avoid fine for not wearing helmet. -Separate lanes have been provided for movement of different vehicles especially on National Highways. But people barely follow these instructions. -Overtaking is a risky affair. If a driver is not careful while overtaking and committing avoidable mistake, then government can hardly do anything in this. -In cases of road accident, people generally are reluctant to come forward and help the victim. This negligence results in victim’s death which can be otherwise avoided by timely intervention. Our insensitivity towards such incidences is a major cause of problems. No: -In India baring National Highways, most of the road infrast...

Background People over 64 years have a high fatality rate when they are involved in traffic accidents. Besides, older victims of road crashes are expected to rise in the future due to population aging. The purpose of the study was to document their perception on the role of the family doctor, the main facilitating factors, and the perceived barriers to the temporary or permanent restriction of their driving. Methods This qualitative study used focus group methodology. A sample of 16 people over 65 years old was obtained through a series of segmentation criteria at an active participation centre for older adults in a small town in Jaén province (Spain). All were invited to participate in a discussion during which they were asked to express their opinions and subjective experiences concerning the role of their family doctor. The group conversation was taped, fully transcribed and analysed, and codes were generated with both deductive and inductive methods. Results After merging the codes to generate themes, we identified 9 relevant categories: perception of age-related risk, road safety, role of public authorities, driver assessment centre, role of the family doctor, role of the family, proposals for addressing traffic accidents in older adults, consequences of the driving prohibition, and public transport. All categories help to explain the subjective driving and traffic safety experiences of older road users. Conclusions Although family doctors do not usually ask their ol...

Road Safety Awareness Essay Road safety awareness is crucial because it helps reduce the number of injuries and deaths on our roads. In this BYJU’S road safety awareness essay , kids will learn about the critical road safety rules and the importance of following them. To stay safe, one must know the proper way to drive a car and not rely on in-car technology like a navigation system. It can be challenging to know how much space one needs when driving a large vehicle like an SUV or a bus, so keep in mind that one should leave enough room for emergency vehicles if there is one nearby. Proper knowledge and education on road safety rules are required while driving or walking across the streets. In addition, ensure to engage your little ones in an interesting activity of writing a short essay on road safety awareness by referring to BYJU’S road safety awareness essay. Basic Rules of Road Safety Every step we take in life has a set of rules. Likewise, road safety has a few regulations, and they are very important for us to follow for keeping us safe while driving. Let us learn fundamental road safety rules by reading BYJU’S road safety awareness essay. The first road safety rule is to keep your eyes on the road. If you are driving, it is crucial that you pay attention to the road in front of your car and don’t allow your mind to wander. Driving needs focus and concentration, so you should make sure that you take breaks when your brain starts to feel tired or if something...

Background Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are among the eight-leading causes of death globally. Strategies and policies have been put in place by many countries to reduce RTCs and to prevent RTCs and related injuries/deaths. Methods In this review, we searched the following databases Ovid Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Epistemonikos, Web of Science, and LILACS for reviews matching our inclusion criteria between periods January 1950 and March 2020. We did not apply language or publication restrictions in the searches. We, however, excluded reviews that focused primarily on injury prevention and reviews that looked at crashes not involving a motor vehicle. Results We identified 35 systematic reviews matching our inclusion criteria and most of the reviews (33/35) included studies strictly from high-income countries. Most reviews were published before 2015, with only 5 published between 2015 and 2020. Methodological quality varied between reviews. Most reviews focused on enforcement intervention. There was strong evidence that random breath testing, selective breath testing, and sobriety checkpoints were effective in reducing alcohol-related crashes and associated fatal and nonfatal injuries. Other reviews found that sobriety checkpoints reduced the number of crashes by 17% [CI: (− 20, − 14)]. Road safety campaigns were found to reduce the numbers of RTCs by 9% [CI: (− 11, − 8%)]. Mass media campaigns indicated some median decrease in cr...

The Minister for Road Transport & Highways stressed that it is necessary to build safer roads even if this decelerated the pace of construction. The above-cited circular was not taken with due seriousness by some authorised engineers. This negligence could have contributed to road crashes, probably resulting in fatalities. The NHAI has now warned the delinquents that such behaviour would be treated as a serious This assertion by the minister reveals a worrying aspect of road construction on national highways, which downplays safety in the course of asset building. This gets highlighted by the very high percentage of road deaths on national highways. National highways constitute a Unfortunately, self-introspection by the NHAI in regard to safety failures and the large number of deaths on national highways was not in evidence in the aftermath of the death of Cyrus Mistry on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai national highway in September 2022. Attention got overwhelmingly focused on the fact that the passenger was not wearing a seat belt and, hence, suffered multiple injuries leading to his death. However, what needs to be pointed out is that seat belts help may help in saving lives but have no role to play in preventing an accident from happening in the first place. In this instance, a seven-member forensic investigation team found that the car crash was the result of an The road with three lanes unexpectedly narrowed to a road with two lanes with a dangerous L-shaped concrete divider th...

• Home Currently selected • Current Issue • Previous Issues • For Authors • Submit a Manuscript • Information for Authors • Language Editing Services • Published Ahead-of-Print • Journal Info • About the Journal • Editorial Board • Affiliated Society • Advertising • Subscriptions • Reprints • Rights and Permissions • Contact Us Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Center, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India Address for correspondence: Dr. S. Gopalakrishnan, Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Center, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur 603 203, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [emailprotected] Road traffic accidents (RTAs) have emerged as an important public health issue which needs to be tackled by a multi-disciplinary approach. The trend in RTA injuries and death is becoming alarming in countries like India. The number of fatal and disabling road accident happening is increasing day by day and is a real public health challenge for all the concerned agencies to prevent it. The approach to implement the rules and regulations available to prevent road accidents is often ineffective and half-hearted. Awareness creation, strict implementation of traffic rules, and scientific engineering measures are the need of the hour to prevent this public health catastrophe. This article is intended to create awareness among the health professionals about the various modalities available to prevent road accidents and ...

Background Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are among the eight-leading causes of death globally. Strategies and policies have been put in place by many countries to reduce RTCs and to prevent RTCs and related injuries/deaths. Methods In this review, we searched the following databases Ovid Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Epistemonikos, Web of Science, and LILACS for reviews matching our inclusion criteria between periods January 1950 and March 2020. We did not apply language or publication restrictions in the searches. We, however, excluded reviews that focused primarily on injury prevention and reviews that looked at crashes not involving a motor vehicle. Results We identified 35 systematic reviews matching our inclusion criteria and most of the reviews (33/35) included studies strictly from high-income countries. Most reviews were published before 2015, with only 5 published between 2015 and 2020. Methodological quality varied between reviews. Most reviews focused on enforcement intervention. There was strong evidence that random breath testing, selective breath testing, and sobriety checkpoints were effective in reducing alcohol-related crashes and associated fatal and nonfatal injuries. Other reviews found that sobriety checkpoints reduced the number of crashes by 17% [CI: (− 20, − 14)]. Road safety campaigns were found to reduce the numbers of RTCs by 9% [CI: (− 11, − 8%)]. Mass media campaigns indicated some median decrease in cr...

Road Accidents - citizens need to take more responsibility than the government. Road Safety is a very important issue in the country. Nearly 5 lakh road accidents were reported in India in 2013, in which more than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives. Modi government is planning to unfold a new law for road safety with more stringent punishment for violation of traffic rules. But, the responsibility to contain road accidents falls only on government? Are we the citizens of this country playing our role? Let’s see: Yes: -A prominent reason of these accidents is violation of rules by individuals. Government cannot keep an eye on every vehicle’s or motorbike’s movement. -Many people consider helmet as a headache and prefer cheap substandard quality’s helmet even when they know this may prove fatal. Their sole purpose is to avoid fine for not wearing helmet. -Separate lanes have been provided for movement of different vehicles especially on National Highways. But people barely follow these instructions. -Overtaking is a risky affair. If a driver is not careful while overtaking and committing avoidable mistake, then government can hardly do anything in this. -In cases of road accident, people generally are reluctant to come forward and help the victim. This negligence results in victim’s death which can be otherwise avoided by timely intervention. Our insensitivity towards such incidences is a major cause of problems. No: -In India baring National Highways, most of the road infrast...