Rear-seat seatbelt use in urban Southeast Asia: results from Bandung and Bangkok.

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Southeast Asia. We aim to estimate the prevalence and predictors of rear seatbelt use, a key behavioural risk factor for RTI, in Bandung and Bangkok, two cities in Southeast Asia. Roadside observational studies were conducted to provide a representative picture of the prevalence in each city. From eight rounds of observations (July 2015 to April 2019), 39,479 and 7,207 rear-seat passengers were observed in Bandung and Bangkok. Across all rounds, 4.2% of rear-seat passengers used seatbelts in Bandung, compared to 8.4% in Bangkok. In both cities, males and adults, as compared to females and adolescents (aged 12-17 years), had higher odds of rear seatbelt use, as did passengers with a restrained driver. Findings highlight the need for rear seatbelt laws in Bandung and improved enforcement of existing rear seatbelt laws in Bangkok.

Analysis of pedestrian accident costs in Sudan using the willingness-to-pay method.

The willingness-to-pay (WTP) with contingent valuation (CV) method has been proven to be a valid tool for the valuation of non-market goods or socio-economic costs of road traffic accidents among communities in developed and developing countries. Research on accident costing tends to estimate the value of statistical life (VOSL) for all road users by providing a principle for the evaluation of road safety interventions in cost-benefit analysis. As in many other developing countries, the economic loss of traffic accidents in Sudan is noticeable; however, analytical research to estimate the magnitude and impact of that loss is lacking. Reports have shown that pedestrians account for more than 40% of the total number of fatalities. In this study, the WTP-CV approach was used to determine the amount of money that pedestrians in Sudan are willing to pay to reduce the risk of their own death. The impact of the socioeconomic factors, risk levels, and walking behaviors of pedestrians on their WTP for fatality risk reduction was also evaluated. Data were collected from two cities-Khartoum and Nyala-using a survey questionnaire that included 1400 respondents. The WTP-CV Payment Card Questionnaire was designed to ensure that Sudan pedestrians can easily determine the amount of money that would be required to reduce the fatality risk from a pedestrian-related accident. The analysis results show that the estimated VOSL for Sudanese pedestrians ranges from US$0.019 to US$0.101 million. In addition, the willingness-to-pay by Sudanese pedestrians to reduce their fatality risk tends to increase with age, household income, educational level, safety perception, and average time spent on social activities with family and community.

Disparity in motorcycle helmet use in Thailand.

The dispersion of motorcycle related injuries and deaths might be a result of disparity in motorcycle helmet use. This study uses national roadside survey data, injury sentinel surveillance data and other national data sets in 2010 of Thailand, a country with high mortality related to motorcycle injuries, to explore the disparity in helmet use, explanatory factors of the disparity. It also assessed potential agreement and correlation between helmet use rate reported by the roadside survey and the injury sentinel surveillance. This report revealed helmet use rate of 43.7%(95% CI:43.6,43.9) nationwide with the highest rate (81.8%; 95% CI: 44.0,46.4) in Bangkok. Helmet use rate in drivers (53.3%; 95% CI: 53.2,53.8) was 2.5 times higher than that in passengers (19.3%; 95% CI:18.9,19.7). In relative terms (highest-to-lowest ratio,HLR), geographical disparity in helmet use was found to be higher in passengers (HLR = 28.5). Law enforcement activities as indicated by the conviction rate of motorcyclists were significantly associated with the helmet use rate (spline regression coefficient = 3.90, 95% CI: 0.48,7.33). Together with the finding of HLR for conviction rate of 87.24, it is suggested that more equitable improvement in helmet use could be achieved by more equitable distribution of the police force. Finally, we found poor correlation (r = 0.01; p value = 0.76) and no agreement (difference = 34.29%; 95% CI:13.48%, 55.09%) between roadside survey and injury sentinel surveillance in estimating helmet use rate. These findings should be considered a warning for employing injury surveillance to monitor policy implementation of helmet use.

Does law enforcement awareness affect motorcycle helmet use? evidence from urban cities in Thailand.

Although helmet use has been compulsory for motorcycle drivers and passengers in Thailand since the enactment of the Helmet Act in 1994, recent surveys show that the prevalence of helmet usage remains low, particularly among passengers. This paper has sought to explore motorcyclists' awareness of helmet law enforcement in Thailand and examine whether it affects their helmet use behaviour. A total of 2,429 drivers and 1,328 passengers in urban cities nationwide were interviewed in 2009, and the data were analysed using a multivariate ordered logit regression technique. About 60% of the drivers and only 28% of the passengers reported that they always wore a motorcycle helmet. Apart from basic demographics (i.e. age and gender) and riding frequency, our analysis reveals that the awareness of helmet law enforcement was among the contributing factors influencing the use of motorcycle helmets in Thailand. Regardless of riding position, the prevalence of helmet use tended to be greater among those frequently observing the police's checkpoints for helmet wearing and those perceiving the high risk of being caught for non-helmet use. However, the use of helmets appeared to be lower among drivers who perceived the checkpoints to take place at the same times and locations, which were likely predicted. For motorcycle passengers, it was found that the low prevalence of helmet use was potentially attributable to the absence of knowledge on the compulsory helmet law for passengers and the perception that the law was not enforced by the police. Thus, if motorcycle helmet use in Thailand is to be increased, considerable efforts need to be given to increasing the perceived risk of apprehension for non-helmet use (e.g. more police presence and random scheduling of enforcement activities), improving the awareness of the existing helmet law for passengers, and ensuring that helmet wearing by passengers is more strictly enforced.