Risk Factors for Road Traffic Injuries among Different Road Users in the Gambia

Abstract

We identified risk factors for road traffic injuries among road users who received treatment at two major trauma hospitals in urban Gambia. The study includes pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers/passengers of cars and trucks. We examined distributions of injury by age, gender, collision vehicle types and vehicle category, and driver and environment factors. Two hundred and fifty-four patients were included in the study. Two-thirds were male and one-third female. Two-thirds (67%) of road traffic injuries involved pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists; and these were more common during weekdays (74%) than weekends. Nearly half (47%) of road traffic injuries involved pedestrians. One-third (34%) of injured patients were students (mean age of students was less than 14 years), more than half (51%) of whom were injured on the roadway as pedestrians. Head/skull injuries were common. Concussion/brain injuries were 3.5 times higher among pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists than vehicle occupants. Crashes involving pedestrians were more likely to involve young people (<25 years; aOR 6.36, 95% CI: 3.32–12.17) and involve being struck by a motor car (aOR 3.95, 95% CI: 2.09–7.47). Pedestrians contribute the largest proportion of hospitalizations in the Gambia. Young pedestrians are at particularly high risk. Prevention efforts should focus on not only vehicle and driver factors, but also protecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

Frequency, characteristics and hospital outcomes of road traffic accidents and their victims in Guinea: a three-year retrospective study from 2015 to 2017

“…This discrepancy may be explained by the fact that those RTA victims who were discharged home had minor injuries such as scratches or slight confusion. However, our findings are similar to those conducted in Ethiopia and Gambia which found low rates of hospital admission and deaths [11, 23].…”

“…Road safety legislation, road infrastructure and affordable ways to maintain vehicles have not kept pace with the surge in vehicle numbers. Studies in Gambia, Burkina Faso and Tanzania have shown that many injuries occur at hot spots such as road intersections with or without traffic lights, during rush hours and at night [23–25], and these factors may play a part in Guinea. Human behavior also plays an important role with speeding, careless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol being important factors contributing to RTA in many countries, and probably also in Guinea [26, 27].…”

Infrastructural and Human Factors Affecting Safety Outcomes of Cyclists

“…Regarding our first objective, it is worth mentioning that the observed directionality of associations between human factors and infrastructure variables, resulted consistently with other studies previously performed with samples of cyclists [4,32] and diverse groups of road users, especially drivers with high exposure to diverse road risks [33,34]. Specifically, it is worth remarking on the associations reported between age of cyclists and road crash rates in the last 5 years which were in accordance with other empirical sources [35,36], i.e., cyclists with less age tend to accumulate higher crash rates (regardless of severity) when riding compared with those with a higher age/riding experience.…”

Age-related differences in driving behaviors among non-professional drivers in Egypt

“…Human, environmental, road, and vehicle factors actively interact in RTI involvement [ 5 – 7 ]. Human factors, in which aberrant driving behaviors are central, profoundly contribute to RTIs [ 7 , 8 ].…”