Level, Trends and Characteristics of Road Traffic Accidents in Mumbai

A majority of road traffic injuries (RTI) in India occur amongst economically productive young age-groups, primarily in the lower and lower middle class population. The problem of deaths and injuries as a result of road accidents in the city of Mumbai is serious enough to demand attention of respective authorities. Using the cross-sectional primary data collected from the accident victims admitted in a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai and secondary police records, this study makes an attempt to explore the injury pattern sustained by accident victims. The study also describes the pre-hospital care received by the accident victim and immediate economic implication after the accident. To meet the objectives and to test the hypotheses, appropriate statistical methodology has been used. Finding shows that the average age of the road traffic victims is 29 years. Most significant findings of the study is that in a populous city like Mumbai, which lacks an organized pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) system, there exists an informal network through which traffic accident victims arrive at the trauma centre.