Epidemiology of Road Traffic Accidents in Nepal from 2009/10 to 2019/20: A 10 Year Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of deaths worldwide among children and young adults aged between 5 to 29 years. The risk of road traffic accident-related death is higher in low-income countries. Thus, we aim to evaluate the epidemiology of road traffic accidents in Nepal during the fiscal years from 2009/10 to 2019/20. Methods: This study is a secondary data analysis of the published police records publicly available on the official webpage of Nepal Police. A study was carried out after written permission from Nepal Police. The data obtained were analysed using Microsoft Excel-13. Results: Analysing available data about reported road traffic accidents events showed an increasing trend in road traffic accidents from the fiscal years 2011/12 till 2019/20, with a steeper increase in the number of road traffic accidents in fiscal years 2017/18 and 2019/20. In fiscal years 2009/10, 11,747 vehicles collided; which rose to 25,788 in the fiscal years 2019/20. More cases of road traffic accidents were reported to occur from 12 noon-6 pm in a day. Among reported road traffic accidents commonest predispositions behind road traffic accidents was the negligence of driver followed by over speed. Among those individuals who died due to road traffic accidents, most of them were male. Conclusions: We found an increasing trend of road traffic accidents, vehicle collisions, and injuries in Nepal over the past ten years especially among two-wheelers and four-wheelers like the car, bus, and autorickshaw. Keywords: Accidents; automobiles; Nepal; traffic