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When faced with the threat of impact, a driver usually maneuvers
his vehicle away to avoid
collision. This happens when a driver is not paying attention to
the road, or unable to suddenly
stop his car
10.Bad OvertakingOvertaking is the act of driving around another
slower vehicle to get ahead of it. Collisions can
occur when drivers miscalculate the distance and speed of
oncoming vehicles.
Epidemiology
Around the world, someone gets killed or seriously hurt on the
road every 6 secondsthat
translates to about 1.3 million road deaths each year. Often,
the victims are the young, the poor, and
the vulnerable
In the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2009 published by the
World Health Organization, the
Philippines was ranked 70th out of a total 178 countries.
Traffic deaths in the Philippines were pegged at a rate of 20
people per 100,000 population. Thecountry recorded 1,185 traffic
deaths for year 2009. Neighboring ASEAN countries Thailand and Laos
are
behind the Philippines at ranks 73 and 79, with deaths per
100,000 population at 19.6 and 18.3
respectively.
The status report also reveals that 90 percent of the worlds
road fatalities happen in low -
income and middle-income countries, and such countries only
amount to 48 percent of registered
vehicles around the world. Among the fatalities, common are
pedestrians, users of two-wheeled
vehicles like bicycles or motorcycles. The WHO also predicts
that road traffic injuries will rise in the ranks
of leading causes of deaths worldwide.
In the Philippines, vehicular accidents occur on a daily basis
and vary in severity. In unfortunatecases, road accidents lead to
fatalities. The Department of Health (DOH) conducted a report about
the
status of vehicular accidents nowadays. The report revealed that
a total of 3,077 vehicular accident-
related injuries were reported for the first quarter of 2010 by
its National Electronic Injury Surveillance
System (NEISS).
The NEISS report said that there were 9,521 injury cases
reported in 77 government and private
hospitals. Injuries often (24.9%) occurred between 4:00PM and
7:59PM. The leading external causes
of injuries were vehicular accidents (32.32%), mauling (18.45%),
sharp objects (11.87%), falls (11.71%),
bites/stings (5.46%), and burns (1.26%).
According to the report, the most common injuries were open
wound/lacerations (40.1%),
abrasion (35.3%), and contusion (17%). More than half (55%) of
the total reported injury cases belonged
to the 15-44 years age group. Children less than 5 years old and
the elderly aged 65 years and above
accounted for 7% and 3%, respectively.
The highest number of injuries was recorded in Central Luzon
(34.1%), followed by Davao
Region (13.5%). Majority (99.68%) of those sustaining injuries
were Filipinos. Other nationalities include
Chinese, Canadian, Indian, and South Korean.
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Collision accidents accounted for 41.2% of the cases. Almost
half (45.1%) of the total vehicular
accident-related injuries occurred in Central Luzon. Nearly
two-thirds (61.5%) happened between
8:00AM and 7:59PM. There were more males (76%) than females
(24%) involved in vehicular accidents.
The motorcycle was the most common (55.4%) mode of transport of
the injured, while 15.1%
were occupants of jeepney, cargo trucks, and other means of
transportation. The primary reported risk
factor for vehicular accident-related injuries was drunk driving
(20.2%).
Majority (99%) of those injured due to vehicular accidents
reached the hospital alive, while 66%
of those reported dead upon arrival were motorcycle occupants.
Nearly three-fourths (73.9%) of injury
cases were discharged after treatment, while 9.4% were admitted
for further treatment.
Most injuries occur on the road (44.4%) and at home (22.9%).
Some injuries were leisure-
related (20.2%) and 7.8% were work-related. About 17.8% of
registered injuries have unknown place of
occurrence.
References:
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/267871/newstv/angpinaka/ang-pinaka-top-10-most-common-causes-of-road-accidents
http://www.doh.gov.ph/vehicular_accidents.html
