Road safety and the community: an awareness survey among the coastal population of Karnataka

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) pose a significant burden on the health care system in India with high out of pocket medical expenditure. Awareness about this public health problem is necessary to combat it and this study was carried out to assess knowledge and practice towards road safety among the adult population in the coastal region of Udupi taluk in Karnataka. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 381 adults aged 18 years and above residing in the region for more than one year. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and practice towards road safety measures. Results: Most of the participants were in the age bracket of 18-44 years (61.4%), were females (65.1 %) and had up to 10 years of schooling. Overall knowledge was found to be low with only 30% reporting good knowledge. As regards practice, drivers fared better with a good majority (87%) reporting desirable practice. Younger age (OR=0.57, 95% CI, 0.36-0.92), male gender (OR=0.14, 95% CI, 0.08-0.23), higher level of schooling (OR=0.32, 95% CI, 0.20 -0.50) and knowing to drive (OR=0.04, 95% CI, 0.02-0.07) were found to be significantly associated with a greater level of knowledge regarding road safety measures. Conclusions: The study showed inadequate knowledge and poor road safety practices among good number of participants. This emphasises the need for a customized community based awareness campaign on road safety measures coupled with stringent legislation measures to bring about the desired change.