While road traffic injuries are the second leading cause of death worldwide among both children (5 - 14 years) and young people aged 15 - 29 years (WHO, 2004), its prevention is a neglected field especially in developing countries like Pakistan. Fatality rate in the biggest city of Pakistan i.e. Karachi is about 4-fold that in Japan. The severity index is also very high (about 50%). This paper describes some of the results of a study conducted by student of NED University, Karachi, under the supervision of author of this paper. Enforcement plays a vital role in prevention of road accidents. However it is quite weak in Karachi. A number of cuts in medians have been closed in recent years to reduce points of conflicts. This has caused an adverse effect on road safety, as a large number of vehicles are found moving in the wrong direction. Therefore, the magnitude of this wrong side movement and other causes of accidents have been discussed. Breaking of traffic signals in the absence and presence of traffic police have alsobeen examined to look into the effectiveness of traffic police posted at signalized intersections. The paper also includes possible measures which could be taken for road traffic injury prevention in Karachi and other similar big cities of developing countries. A significant percentage of drivers were found to drive their vehicles in the wrong direction. Majority of them were motorcyclists. Lot of variation was observed in the degree of effectiveness of presence of traffic police in reducing red light signal violations depending on the number and mobility of traffic police at different locations. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract