Awareness and practice regarding road safety among toto (e-rickshaw) drivers in Burdwan Town, West Bengal

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONRoad traffic accidents (RTA), the global epidemic in most regions of the world, are increasing. 1 More than 1.25 million people die every year in the world from RTA while in addition for every death, 20-50 non-fatal injuries and 10-20 serious injuries occurs which requires long periods of treatment. 2,3 Unless immediate actions are taken, deaths due to RTA will raise to the fifth leading cause of deaths by 2030. 3 Almost 90% of world's RTA fatalities occur in low-and middle-income countries. 3 In India where population of motor vehicle is growing at a faster rate than the economic and population growth, a total of 1.46 lakh deaths were reported from RTA in 2015 which further translates into 57 accidents and 17 deaths on an average every hour. 2,4 The state of West Bengal ABSTRACT Background: Global epidemic of traffic injuries are increasing rapidly. Unless immediate measures are taken, deaths due to road traffic accidents will rise to the fifth leading cause of deaths by 2030. Recently E-Rickshaws (locally known as 'Toto') have gained immense popularity. However, the awareness and practice regarding road safety issues among e-rickshaws drivers is yet to be documented. The study was conducted to assess their knowledge and practices regarding traffic rules and road safety measures, and to find out association of their knowledge and practice with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September-November 2017 at Burdwan Municipality. Assuming 50% prevalence of good knowledge, 10% relative-precision and 10% non-response; calculated sample size was 422. Convenient sampling technique was used due to uneven distribution of study subjects. Equal numbers of participants were included from seven prominent locations of municipality. Depending upon the responses the overall knowledge and practice were grouped into three categories (i.e. good/average/poor) and two categories (i.e. favourable/unfavourable) respectively. Results: 78.2% and 97.16% drivers were unaware about maximum permissible speed limit of e-rickshaws and the 'cross-road ahead' signal respectively. 86.73% had unfavourable practice regarding carrying recommended maximum number of passengers. Overall 16.6% drivers had good road safety knowledge and 21.8% had favourable practice. Significant association was found between knowledge and practice with age and educational status of the participants. Practice was also significantly associated with their income status. Conclusions: Overall knowledge and practice regarding road safety was low among the e-rickshaw drivers. Targeted interventions are recommended for improvement.