ABSTRACT
In most societies nowadays, accidents are considered as the second most probable cause of death. A big ratio of this is related to the traffic accidents. This report aims at recognizing the accidents which cause casualties around Mashhad's roads. In a case-control study, the cases were drivers who had accidents in these roads with casualties and the controls were the drivers having accidents in same locations but with no casualties. Variables were age, sex, seat belt, spontaneous combustion at the accident, trapping at the accident, falling out of the vehicle at the accident, music playing in the vehicle at the time of the accident, using cell phone, the direction of the accident, the time, smoking at the time of the accident, and the model of the vehicle in both groups. Ninety percent of the cases and 93% of the controls were able or willing to be interviewed while 16.2% and 23.4% of the cases and controls were female. The distribution of males in the case and control group was 83.8% and 76.6% respectively. The age of the case and control groups was 35.5 +/- 10.5 and 39.4 +/- 9.8 years. The use of seat belt as a safety factor was significantly more in the control group [OR=0.44]. Combustion was 21% seen in the case group at the time of the accident, but the same occurred in the control group only in 1.3% of the accidents. The trapping and falling out of the vehicle were significantly more in the case group. Fastening seat belt had a significant positive effect on reducing the injuries caused by the accidents. Age as another significant indicator showed a great influence in the danger factor caused by the road accidents which can be reduced by means of media information
ABSTRACT
All over the world motorcycle accident are one of the major causes of road death and injury. This study aimed to determine the pattern of Motorcycle Fatal Accidents in Mashhad-Iran. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in 2006 to analyze the epidemiological pattern of the motorcycle accident in Mashhad, North-Eastern Iran. Three hundred fifty cases of motorcycle accidents were included. Data gathering tool was a standard questionnaire. The compiled data were analyzed using SPSS11 and chi 2 test. The significance level was considered 0.05 in all statistical tests. In the time span of the study, 350 cases of motorcycle accident occurred, most of which happened at 8pm to 12pm. In 119 cases, the motorcyclist was the blameful rider. Generally, 84.2% of the motorcycle riders did not have safety helmets. About two third of blameful motorcycle riders [63.1%] were less than 25 years old. The major cause of the accidents [55.1%] was due to neglecting the Yield Right of Way. Motorcycle riders endanger pedestrian, other drivers, passengers and their own life. Paying attention to cultural and instructional issues of correct motorcycle riding and performing appropriate monitoring in traffic and transportation system such as honoring our and others safety and setting limitations on using this vehicle by the youth is of great importance