Belief & Behaviour regarding road safety discipline among college going two-wheeler riders in Ahmedabad city - a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background : Road Traffic Accident (RTA) refers to any accident involving at least one vehicle on road open to
pubic circulation in which at least one person is injured or killed. Road traffic injuries constitute a major public health
burden with significant consequences on mortality and morbidity, and significant health and socioeconomic costs.
The majority of two-wheeler riders involved inroad accidents are young people, who generally tend to adopt risky
attitudes and behaviors. Materials & Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected
502 college going two-wheeler riders rom, the then, six zones of Ahmedabad city. A pre-tested, pre-designed
proformawas used to assess belief &behaviour of participants.
Results : Out of 502 participants 47.81% were boys and 52.19% were girls with mean age of 19.4(±1.5) years.
There were gaps between belief and actual behaviour on road regarding road safety discipline in study group. The
gap was 45 % regarding mobile phone use, 30.9% regarding valid licence and 22.9 % regarding standard ISI mark
helmet use while driving. In study, 84 % participants agreed for basic life support training to help casually at road
side.
Conclusion : There was gap between what the youngsters believe and how they actually behave on road regarding
road safety discipline. This could be reduced by sensitization and proper training / retraining on road safety.