Injury risks for different road users in Nepal: a secondary analysis of routinely collected crash data

Bhatta, Santosh; Mytton, Julie; Parkin, John; Pilkington, Paul

Abstract

Background: Road traffic injuries are the twelfth leading cause of mortality globally. Nepal, one of the least developed countries in the world, has a rapidly rising rate of road traffic related morbidity and mortality. There is incomplete reporting of traffic crashes in Nepal in the last three WHO global status reports on road safety. Together with poor-quality coding of crashes, essential information to inform prevention interventions or make international comparisons is lacking.

Objectives: The study aimed to critically analyse routinely collected traffic police data in Makwanpur District, Nepal, to identify the road user groups most likely to be involved and injured in traffic crashes in this part of the country.

Design: Secondary data analysis

Setting: Makwanpur district, Nepal

Data sources: Road traffic crash records from the District Traffic Police Office, Makwanpur over two years (April 2017 – March 2018 and May 2019 – April 2020). Data were extracted from paper-based records onto an electronic database, and data analysed descriptively using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0.

Results: There were 291 crashes recorded in 2017/2018 and 435 crashes in 2019/20. Two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycles/scooters) were the most frequently involved in police-reported crashes (35.5%). For most crashes (419/726, 58%), no cause was documented in the police record. Road users involved in crashes were mostly riders or passengers of motorized two/three-wheelers (33.4%), four-wheeled vehicles (19.9%) or buses (16.7%). Of fatal injuries, 31.2% were riders or passengers of motorized two/ three-wheelers, and 24.8% were pedestrians.

Limitations: The data used represent crashes reported to the traffic police and therefore underestimate the true number of crashes and injuries. At the end of the second period of study, local movement restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown limited the traffic on the roads, resulting in fewer crashes in March and April 2020. In most crash records, there were missing data, limiting the ability to determine contributory factors with confidence.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the evidence gap by describing crashes and mortality data by vehicle type and road user category. The findings suggest that the number and rates of crashes may be increasing over time. Action to improve the quality and completeness of data routinely collected by the traffic police is needed; a piloted web-based Road Accident Information Management System has the potential to support improved routine data collection.

Future work: The data indicate crashes occurring in one district over two years. To better understand the apparent increase in crashes an analysis over a longer period, and over multiple districts, would be necessary.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2024
• Journal: Global Health Research
• Print ISSN: 2631-7605
• Electronic ISSN: 2631-7613
• Publisher: NIHR Journals Library
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11974656