Road Traffic Fatalities in coastal Odisha: Autopsy based study

Background: With man’s invention of the wheel, the death knell has continued to toll for many. Death and deformity resulting from the accident has become a common occurrence in the society all over the world and road traffic accident outnumbers the other sources of accidental deaths. WHO considers accident to be an unpremeditated event resulting in recognizable damage. Objective: To study road traffic fatalities and associated factors Methods: The study title “Profile of Road Traffic Fatalities in Coastal Odisha: Autopsy Based Study” seeks to find out not only the various forms of road traffic fatalities and epidemiological parameters but also points out precipitating factors, circumstances, manner and causes of death in the coastal belt of Odisha. Results: It was noticed that while pedestrian and two wheeler riders accounted for the bulk of the victims, four wheeler make for the majority of offending vehicle. Whereas when the victim is a four wheeler driver or occupant, invariably the offending vehicle is a heavy vehicle. No limb injuries could be seen in four wheeler driver or occupants and only 2 cases of fatal pelvic injuries were detected in light motor vehicle drivers. Abrasions and contusions were the injuries predominantly seen in all type of road users, closely followed by lacerations. The overall representation of injury to lungs/pneumothorax/hemothorax though is 5.22% (i.e. 36 out of 690 cases), but when it comes to occupants of four wheelers it is seen in 12 out of 52 cases (i.e.23.08%). It was seen that bulk of the death due to cranio-cerebral injuries has occurred within few hours to few days i.e. within a week. Out of the total 418 cases of death due to cranio-cerebral injuries, in 294 cases fracture of some form or other were noticed. Conclusion: Despite the limitations, the study could put some light on parameters multifarious factors leading to road traffic accidents deaths. Cause of motor vehicle accident crashes and road accidents are multifactorial and the pre-crash factors include people, vehicles and road environment. In developing countries human error accounts for majority of the accidents