Road risk-perception and pedestrian injuries among students at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

BACKGROUND Road traffic injuries (RTIs) constitute 45% of injury mortality in Egypt; 75% of these injuries are pedestrians related. Traditionally, research on road traffic safety has focused on the traffic environment and the vehicles. However, little attention has been given to road risky behaviors and perceptions of road safety by pedestrians as risk factors associated with high pedestrian injury rates. This study aimed to examine the relationship between road risk- perception, specific road behaviors, and self-reported pedestrian injuries among university students in Cairo, Egypt. METHODS A cross sectional survey was conducted among university students aged 18 to 24 years old at Ain Shams University in Cairo. Questions covered socio-demographic variables, injury episodes, road behaviors, road risk-perceptions, attitudes towards injury prevention, and road safety education. RESULTS The survey was completed by 1,324 students. Two hundred ninety (21.9%) of the participants suffered from pedestrian injury during the past 6 months; of these, 28.9% were admitted to hospital or clinic as a result of the injury, 39.3% were unable to go to university or leave home because of the injury for a period ranging from one day up to one week. Participants were more likely to suffer from pedestrian injury when they did not always "look both ways to cross the road", whereas always "waiting for a green light" was protective. Students who "perceived it safe to cross the road from any point" or "did not perceive it to be safer to cross at a zebra crossing" were less likely to "look both ways" before crossing the road. Similarly, there was a positive association between road safety education and participants' road crossing behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Inappropriate youths' road behaviors were significantly associated with pedestrian injury. There was also a positive association between road risk perception and road behaviors. This suggests that a behavioral approach together with modification of the traffic environment (such as provision of crossing signals) might be effective in preventing the occurrence of pedestrian injury.