Influence of an Enforcement Campaign on Seat-Belt and Helmet Wearing, Karachi-Hala Highway, Pakistan

This paper, from a conference on crash injury control, reports on a study that evaluated the extent to which an enforcement campaign influenced seat-belt use and motorcycle helmet wearing on a Pakistani highway. The study setting was the Karachi-Hala highway where a traffic enforcement campaign was conducted from Dec 2009 to Feb 2010. Seat-belt use and helmet wearing associated with just under 6,000 vehicles and 400 motorcycles were observed before the enforcement campaign (in Nov 2009) and after (Apr 2010) at the Karachi toll plaza. Differences in wearing rates as a function of occupants’ age, sex, and vehicle type were compared between the two periods. On average, 9,119 traffic citations were issued per month from Aug 2009 to Feb 2010; 4.2% of which were for not wearing a helmet. A 22.5% increase in citations was observed for Dec 2009 to Feb 2010 periods (during the enforcement campaign) compared with Aug 2009 to Oct 2009 periods (before the enforcement campaign). Overall, two out of five drivers (40%) and one out of five (20%) front seat occupants wore seat belts. This proportion was significantly higher in drivers and front-seat occupants of cars than those of heavier vehicles. Similarly, one of two motorcyclists used a helmet (50%) but only 5.8% of pillion riders in Nov 2009 used a helmet. The authors found that the increased enforcement had only a limited influence on belt wearing in drivers and occupants. A higher increase was observed for motorcyclists and pillion riders. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of these results and the need for serious efforts to increase seat-belt and helmet use on Pakistani highways. They offer suggestions for these efforts, including improved enforcement resources, increased fines, not allowing such vehicles on roads, and safety awareness campaigns that target drivers of heavy vehicles.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/19432461
• Corporate Authors:

  Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)

  P.O. Box 4176
  Barrington, IL  United States  60011-4176
• Authors:
  • Bhatti, Junaid A
  • Ejaz, Kiran
  • Razzak, Junaid A
  • Tunio, Israr Ali
  • Sodhar, Irshad
• Conference:
  • 55th Annual Scientific Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
  • Location: Paris , France
  • Date: 2011-10-3 to 2011-10-5
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 65-70
• Monograph Title: Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine. 55th Annual Scientific Conference, Paris, France, October 3-5, 2011
• Serial:
  • Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine
  • Volume: 55
  • Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)
  • ISSN: 1943-2461

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile drivers; Compliance; Highway safety; Motorcycle helmets; Motorcyclists; Passengers; Safety campaigns; Seat belts; Traffic law enforcement
• Geographic Terms: Pakistan
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01357686
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 29 2011 1:44PM