Evaluation of effectiveness of safety seatbelt legislation in the United Arab Emirates.

Seatbelt legalisation was implemented in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 1999. This provided the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation in the Eastern District of Abu Dhabi Emirate in the UAE by establishing levels of injury severity from motor vehicle crashes (MVC) before and after the legislation and the rate of compliance with the legislation. Data were obtained from a major hospital in the Eastern District of Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE. Subjects were a systematic sample of MVC victims who arrived alive at hospital in either the pre-implementation period (January-June 1998) or the post-implementation period (February-August 2000). The main measures of outcome were injury severity codes, numbers of hospital bed days and rates of admission and discharge at hospital. The analysis of injury severity from MVCs, from the pre- to the post-implementation period, revealed a significant declining trend (chi-square = 77.68, P < 0.001). While the proportion of minor injuries increased from 42% (95% CI: 36-48%) in the pre-implementation period to 77% (95% CI: 71-83%) in the post-implementation period, the proportion of "moderate to fatal injuries" declined from 54% (95% CI: 48-60%) to 17% (P = 0.001) and the median number of hospital bed days declined from 5 days (25% = 2; 75% = 8 ) to 3 days (25% = 1; 75% = 4 ). The rate of seatbelt compliance reported by occupants involved in MVCs in the post-implementation period was 59% (95% CI: 52-67%). The implementation of the seatbelt legislation in the Eastern District of Abu Dhabi Emirate was associated with statistically significant reduction in morbidity in those arriving alive at hospital following MVC, including reduced severity of injury, admission rate to hospital and the duration of hospital stay. More active implementation of seatbelt law would most likely further reduce severity of MVC injuries and fatalities in the Eastern District of Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE.

Road traffic accidents in the United Arab Emirates: trends of morbidity and mortality during 1977-1998.

High rates of serious road traffic accidents (RTAs) have been reported for several Arabian Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). in recent years. This study aims to describe quantitatively the morbidity and mortality from RTAs in the UAE, to identify their trends during the period 1977-1998, to compare the results with those of developed countries, and to evaluate the information available on possible causes with a view to identifying the most useful direction for future research. Data were obtained from UAE's police and health sources and, for international comparison, from WHO Statistics reports and the published literature. Overall and cause-specific fatality and injury rates of RTAs were calculated. Estimates of trends were achieved by using linear regression. The characteristics of road users injured or killed were also analysed. The results revealed that during the period 1977-1998, the rates of RTAs per 100,000 population and per 100,000 motor vehicles declined in the UAE by a trend component of -56.3 (P < 0.001: R2 = 0.69) and -521.8 (P<0.001; R2=0.92), respectively. RTA fatality and injury rates based on the same denominators also declined by -1.1 (P<0.001; R2 = 0.56) and -13.3 (P < 0.001; R2 = 0.47); and by -3.8 (P < 0.02; R2 = 0.23) and - 90.0 (P < 0.001; R2 = 0.59), respectively. Paradoxically, however, except for a short period (1977-1985), a steady increase in the risk of injury and death in each RTA accompanied these declines. Between 1985 and 1998 the severity rate (the ratio of fatalities and injuries per 1,000 RTAs) more than tripled in the UAE. The UAE's rates were high when compared with a number of selected countries. The cause for the increasing severity of RTAs is not clear but the most likely cause could lie in speeding, careless driving, the changing vehicle mix on the roads and the standard of immediate care available for victims. Further investigation is essential and will require close collaboration between police and health authorities.