Road Traffic Accidents – Burden on Society

More people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world [1]. India has 1% of the world’s vehicles, but 6% of the total global RTA deaths [2]. The statistical profile reflects a global estimate of 5.1 million deaths in 2000, due to injuries, accounting for 10% of deaths due to all causes. Out of this a quarter deaths occurred in the South-East Asian region [1]. In fact, road traffic injuries are ranked as the number one cause of disease burden among children between 5 and 14 years. Also number three cause among those in the age group 15 to 29 years. The male female ratio of 3 : 1 [2,3]. According to the World Health Report 2002, of the global burden of injury, 30.3% morbidity and 28.7% mortality occurred in the South-East Asia Region [4]. Global mortality is 97/100,000 population. About 850,000 are under 45 years of age, who are the main source of livelihood for their families in most of the developing countries. Every day, there are 3300 deaths and 6600 serious injuries on the road [4]. RTAs were the 10th leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 2.1% of all deaths globally. Furthermore, these road traffic deaths accounted for 23% of all injury deaths worldwide. Worldwide, about 1.2 million persons are killed in road traffic crashes every year [3].