Assessment Helmet Usage among Two Wheeler Users in the South India Devagappanavar Gulappa.1,*, Uthkarsh Pallavi Sarji2 1Degree: Master of Public Health (Honors) Project Fellow, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Jayanagar, Bangalore 2Associate Professor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Jayanagar, Bangalore *Corresponding Author: Dr. Gulappa. Devagappanavar, Degree: Master of Public Health (Honors), Project Fellow, e-mail: gulappa.md07dmr@gmail.com, Mobile: 7892213838
Online published on 31 March, 2020. Abstract Background In India, road traffic injuries are one of the top four leading causes of death and health loss among persons of age group 15–49 years. The share of two wheelers in total road accidents has increased from 28.8% in 2015 to 33.8% in 2016. Out of total of 52, 500 two wheeler riders killed in road accidents during the calendar year 2016, 10, 135 two-wheeler riders (19.3%) were reported to be not wearing helmets. Aims Mandatory helmet usage law was enforced in January 2016 for both riders and pillions in Bangalore. Settings and Design Randomly selected Traffic Junctions of Bangalore city, Karnataka, India. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain the helmet usage among two wheeler users. Method and Materials It is a cross sectional study, where 1471 two wheeler riders, pillions were observed at selected 6 traffic junctions using an observation checklist with different intervals of the time in weekdays and weekends. Information regarding socio demographic details and helmet compliance will be collected. Results In observational survey 1471 two wheeler users were observed at the 6 selected traffic junctions, among riders (82.18%), pillions (72.82%) wore helmet. Helmet usage (riders-87.64%) (pillions-76.03%) in inner city junction and in outer ring road junction (riders-74.88%) (pillions-55.12%) respectively. helmet usage in weekdays was 6% more than in weekends among riders. Conclusion Nearly 20% of riders and 30%of pillions were not wearing helmets. Compliance to ISI (Indian Standard) helmets and buckling of the helmets was poor in both the users. Top Keywords Helmet usage, helmet compliance, traffic junctions, standards of helmet. Top |