Abstract

Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is described as "an occurrence that takes place on a route or street open to public traffic; resulting in one or more individuals being hurt or killed, when at least one moving vehicle is involved”. The rapid growth of individualised means of transportation, the mix of slow- and fast-moving cars, a lack of roadside discipline, drunk driving, and cell phone usage while driving are the main contributors to RTA in our nation.
Aims and objectives
1. To study the dynamics of accident and site of injury in the victims
2. To identify the common type of vehicles and injuries produced in a road traffic accident.
Materials and Methods: The hospital based descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry during a period of one year from May 2013 to June 2014. Among 781 patients were taken during the study period. After obtaining informed consent, the principal investigator was collected the data using structured questionnaire contain basic characteristics like, age, gender, history of alcohol consumption, Dynamics of accident, Site of the injury and types of vehicles used at the time of injury.
Results: The median age of the study participant was 31.00 (IQR 23 – 43) years. Among 781 cases, 664 (85.01%) were males and 117(14.98%) were females. Skid and fall from two wheeler is the most common type of accident which constitutes to about 32.1% of all types of accidents. Head is the most common part injured (24.0%), followed by lower limb (16.9%), and followed by upper limbs (16%). Most of the cased had two wheeler accident.
Conclusion: These dynamics, accident sites, and accident types may shed light on it, and the nation may need to enact stricter laws and raise awareness of the issue.