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Original article
Burden and factors associated with highway work-zone crashes, on a section of the Karachi–Hala Road, Pakistan
  1. Junaid Ahmad Bhatti1,
  2. Junaid Abdul Razzak2,
  3. Emmanuel Lagarde1,
  4. L Rachid Salmi1,3,4
  1. 1Equipe Avenir ‘Prévention et Prise en Charge des Traumatismes’, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité 897 (INSERM U897), Bordeaux, France
  2. 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
  3. 3Institut de Santé Publique, d'Epidémiologie et de Développement (ISPED), Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
  4. 4Service d'Information Médicale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
  1. Correspondence to Junaid A Bhatti, Equipe Avenir ‘Prévention et Prise en Charge des Traumatismes’, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité 897 (INSERM U897), 146 rue Léo Saignât, 33076 Bordeaux cedex, France; junaid.bhatti{at}yahoo.com

Abstract

Objective To assess the burden and factors associated with highway work-zone (HWZ) crashes.

Design Historical cohort.

Setting Section of the Karachi–Hala Road, Pakistan (196 km).

Data Police-reported crashes and traffic statistics from January 2006 to December 2008.

Analysis Crash and death risk between the HWZ and other zones for a 50 km section were compared. Crash locations were described for a further 146 km section on which factors associated with HWZ crashes were assessed.

Results HWZ crashes accounted for 15.0% of traffic crashes (N=180) and 30.8% of road fatalities (N=91) on the 196 km section. Rates were higher in the HWZ than other zones for crashes (rate ratio (RR)=2.35, 95% CI=1.17 to 4.70) and deaths (RR=4.70, 95% CI=2.11 to 10.46). Opposite-direction crashes (adjusted OR (aOR)=10.65, 95% CI=3.22 to 35.25) and traffic crashes involving pedestrians (aOR=6.03, 95% CI=1.39 to 26.20) and on wet surfaces (aOR=7.26, 95% CI=4.15 to 48.89) were significantly associated with the HWZ.

Conclusion These results support the introduction of prevention measures such as strict traffic enforcement, traffic separation, improving pedestrian visibility, and hazard signage at HWZs in Pakistan. The feasibility and effectiveness of these measures remains to be evaluated.

  • Developing country
  • road/traffic accidents
  • severity
  • trauma
  • environment
  • MVTC
  • pedestrian

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2010.027532

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    Footnotes

    • Funding JAB is a PhD student at Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité 897, France, funded the logistics for data collection. The funding bodies had no input into study design, analysis, and interpretation of results.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.