Background: Road Traffic Accident are 4^thleading cause of mortality and disease burden worldwide in 15-59 years age groups. RTA rate of 35 per 1,000 vehicles in India is one of the highest in the world and so is the RTA fatality rate of 25.3 per 10,000 vehicles¹. Accidents occur not only due to ignorance but also due to carelessness, thoughtlessness and over confidence. Human, vehicular and environmental factors play role before, during and after a Road Traffic Accidents (RTA). Road traffic injuries are partially predictable and hence preventable.

Aim: To study the epidemiology of road traffic accidents along with various risk factors responsible for these accidents.

Material and Methods: Hospital based study was conducted for the period of one year from 1^st Jan 2012-31^st Dec 2012. It was a descriptive type of study. The investigator visited all the victims of road side accidents admitted in the causality. They were interviewed in their vernacular language .They were explained about the purpose of the study The informed consent was taken.

Result: Most of the accidents occur in age group of 25-44 years (52.07%) followed by 15-24 years(25.64%).): Most of the victims were having  driving license (76.93%). Nearly 48% made their licences through agent and 52% through authority. Only 5.82% were admitting use of intoxicant at the time of accident. 9.74% victims admitted use of mobile phone during driving, 19.83% two wheeler user never used helmet while 36.03% used it occasionally. 15.28% four wheeler drivers never used seatbelt. 21.39% never used dipper while 49.8% used it sometimes. 96.08% victims had no knowledge of speed limit.

Conclusion: It is concluded that traffic training and comprehensive safety education must be made an essential part of school curriculum. Driving license should be issued in a more disciplined manner. Along with all these, emergency health services should also be strengthened with the opening of more trauma centers so that we can save the lives of affected peoples by providing proper emergencies services on time.

Keywords: Road traffic accidents(RTA), Traffic training, Driving license

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Dr Tejinder Singh

Senior Resident Department of Biochemistry, GMC Amritsar, India