Road Traffic-Related Injuries for Young people in New South Wales - Example

REPORT By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Table of Contents REPORT 1 Table of Contents 2 Road Traffic Related Injuries for Young people in NSW 3 1.0 Executive Summary 3 2.0 Introduction 4 3.0 Overall Status of the Injury 4 4.0 Causal and Associate Factors for the Specified Injury (Henderson, 2001) 6 5.0 Significant Issue 7 6.0 Preventative Measures 8 7.0 Issues that Impact Injury Data 8 8.0 Recommendations 9 9.0 References 10 Road Traffic Related Injuries for Young people in NSW 1.0 Executive Summary The key behavioural causes of road traffic accidents as discussed in the report are, fatigue, drink driving, speeding, and failure to use seatbelts. Research proves that youth are a susceptible group to road accidents in New South Wales as a result of social, cultural, behavioural, attitudinal, and cognitive factors. The report indicates that it is human instead of physical factors that influence the road usage. The purpose of this report is to explore the epidemiology of an injury issue of relevant injury data and analyse data useful for the development of preventive efforts. The report provide a brief of the overall status of the injury, outline causal and associate factors for the specified injury issue, and why it is a significant issue. 2.0 Introduction Like other countries, Australian youthful drivers form a large percentage of road traffic related deaths as well as life-threatening injuries (BITRE, 2012). In NSW, fifteen percent of youthful drivers below 26 years have driving licences but represent 25 percent of road traffic related fatalities. Young males make up almost 80 percent of the drivers below the age of 26 who have been victims of deadly road traffic accidents (Masuri, Isa, & Tahir, 2012). For instance, a P1 licence holder (aged 17 years) is four times more probable to have deadly accidents as compared to a driver aged 26 and above. Almost 50% of all cases with grave injuries in NSW Trauma Centres were caused by trauma due to both traffic and non-traffic accidents (MAA, 2012). Additionally, 33 % of patients admitted to NSW Trauma Centres are aged between 15 and 24 years (Institute of Trauma and Injury Management, 2012). Apart from making the present trauma patient care better, the health system in NSW is enduring some setbacks, especially in terms of offering faster and better accessibility to trauma care facilities. 3.0 Overall Status of the Injury Accident-related injuries affect all and sundry, but mostly it has an effect on the wellbeing and health of young people in NSW. Presently, statistics indicate that road traffic accidents are the top cause of fatality among young Australians aged between 12 and 24 years. Additionally, it has caused more deaths compared to all other death causes amongst this age group (NSW Centre for Road Safety, 2013). Moreover, road traffic accidents have left scores with long-term injuries or serious disability. Statistically, road traffic accidents are the most widespread cause of injury in NSW, for instance, 20% of hospitalisations in NSW are caused by accidents injuries, which accounted for 44 percent of deaths in 2009 (Chen, et al., 2012). Furthermore, traffic accidents were to blame for the huge number of these deaths. According to Masuri et al. (2012), traffic accidents are those accidents that occur in land transport; implying they take place on public streets and highways. In 2011, NSW recorded 380 traffic accidents from 560 recorded in 2002, which implies that there was a drastic decline (BITRE, 2012). In 2009, there were less than 200 hospitalisations of young Australians for traffic accidents, with most hospitalisation coming from different modes of transport, such as pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclist, car driver, and car passenger (ABS, 2013). Fig 1: Leading Causes of Injury Burden (DALYs) for 15-24 years olds (AIHW, 2008) According to Chen et al. (2010), the aforementioned modes of transport caused almost all hospitalisations related to traffic accident. Besides that, the rate of hospitalisation for traffic related accidents heightened with age, but notably the rates were higher in males a compared with their females counterparts, particularly those aged between 12 and17 years (that is to say 258 as compared with 112 per 100,000 young Australians) (BITRE, 2012). For those aged between 18 and 24 years the rate for traffic accidents was 407 per 100,000 males as compared with 198 per 100,000 females. Notably, the prevalent transportation mode for hospitalisations of traffic related accident differed by both sex and age. For males aged between 12 and 17 years, the highest hospitalisation rates were on pedal cyclists and closely followed by motorcyclists, while for females in the same age group, hospitalisation rates were highest for car passengers and then car drivers (NSW Centre for Road Safety, 2013). 4.0 Causal and Associate Factors for the Specified Injury (Henderson, 2001) In NSW, driving under alcohol influence, speeding, as well failing to wear seatbelts are the key causes of fatalities, injuries and accidents amongst young Australians (Knight et al., 2013). For instance, in 2011, 26% of fatalities caused by traffic accidents were not wearing seatbelts (NSW Government, 2014). Alcohol as well as speeding is as well the contributing factors in 23% and 41% of all fatal traffic accidents in that order. Besides that, NSW established that fatigue contributed to almost 20% of fatal traffic accidents in 2011. Fig 3: Traffic Accident hospitalization by selected transport mode (AIHW, 2008) 5.0 Significant Issue Road traffic accidents for NSW have indicated that since the beginning of 21st century, fatal accidents in urban areas have been declining (NSW Centre for Road Safety, 2013). Almost 60% of fatal traffic accidents in NSW happen in what is termed as rural regions (Knight et al. 2011). In 2010, injuries and deaths amongst young Australians in NSW aged 17 years and below were above 3000 fatalities (ABS, 2013). The significant issues that lead to traffic accidents in NSW are attributed to careless driving, driving under influence of alcohol, and ignorance to traffic rules (ABS, 2013). 6.0 Preventative Measures Preventive measures on the causes of road traffic accident are vital to protect further deaths of young Australians. A number of the recommended preventive measures if well espoused and put into practice will help in reducing road traffic accidents in NSW. The protective measures include: banning motor parks Sanitation from sales and consumption of alcohol; NSW should introduce sobriety checkpoints; routine rehabilitation as well as maintenance roads and pavements; effective vehicle repair and maintenance; reducing hazard of tankers; and banning use of mobile phones while driving (MAA, 2012; Masuri et al., 2012; NSW HSC Online, 2013; NSW Government, 2014). Other protective measure include: conducting public enlightenment, Obeying traffic regulations, rules and signs; regulating driving speeds; encouraging efficient and effective application of road safety; and encouraging young Australians to use other modes of transport that are safer (Agbonkhese, et al., 2013). 7.0 Issues that Impact Injury Data In NSW, traffic-related accidents are investigated by police. Hence, the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of the collected data rely on the performance of police investigators (FHWA, 2013). Therefore, the state of the roads, traffic jam, witness accounts, openness of the doctors treating the injured patients, and the willpower of the police investigators are some of the issues that have impact on data of injuries. 8.0 Recommendations With regard to young drivers and their passengers, NSW should introduce and implement proper graduated licence system, so as to make sure that young Australian drivers gain their knowledge in a reasonably secure setting and in continuous supervision. Beside, its campaigns for community education, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) should heighten the use of fixed digital speed cameras in urban NSW, and implement a policy that will need drivers to travel at an average speed of 50 km/h (Henderson, 2001). Additionally, integrating incentives, enforcement and education can be efficient in increasing the rates of wearing seat belt. In this regard, enforcement could be effectual in ensuring young Australians wear seat belts, on the other hand, education will be effective for educating drivers the safety benefits of wearing seat belts. To decrease the frequency of cyclist and pedestrian related injuries caused by road traffic accidents, the NSW must involve the local communities to encourage the young Australians to espouse the 40 km/h speed limits in urbanized areas, and speed below 30 km/h in school zones. Basically, the physiological effects of injuries acquired after road traffic accident must be lessened by means of using rapid accidents notification as well as offering needed treatment through effective rehabilitation and medical services (MAA, 2012). In addition, all health care providers in NSW must be supported to increase the distribution of centres for trauma treatment and also advance their operations for casualty treatment to conserve life as well as reduce the disabling effects of trauma. 9.0 References ABS. (2013, January 21). Accidents, Injuries and Fatalities. Retrieved from Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/D18CA4EA930FF0D2CA25773700169CE5?opendocument Agbonkhese, O., Yisa, G., Agbonkhese, E., Akanbi, D., Aka, E., & M. E. (2013). Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: Causes and Preventive Measures. Civil and Environmental Research, 3(13), 90-99. AIHW. (2008). Injury Among Young Australians. Sydney: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. BITRE. (2012). Road Deaths Australia 2011 Statistical Summary. Retrieved from Bureau of Transport Infrastructure and Regional Economics: http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/RDA_Summary_2011.pdf Chen, H., Jan, S., Boufous, S., Martiniuk, A., Ivers, R., Senserrick, T., . . . D, M. (2012). Variations in car crash-related hospitalization costs amongst young adults in New South Wales, Australia. Injury, 43(9), 1593-1599. Chen, H., Senserrick, T., Chang, H., Ivers, R., Martiniuk, A., Boufou, S., & R, N. (2010). Road crash trends for young drivers in New South Wales, Australia, from 1997 to 2007. Traffic Injury Prevention, 11(1), 8-15. FHWA. (2013). Crash Data Improvement Program Guide. Retrieved from The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/cdip/finalrpt04122010/ch8.cfm Henderson, M. (2001). Road deaths and injuries among children and young people in rural NSW. Sydney: Motor Accidents Authority of NSW. Institute of Trauma and Injury Management. (2012, June 20). Annual trauma registry reports. Retrieved from NSW Government: http://www.itim.nsw.gov.au/wiki/Annual_trauma_registry_reports Knight, P., Iverson, D., & Harris, M. (2011). Early driving experience and influence on risk perception in young rural people. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 775-781. Knight, P., Iverson, D., & Harris, M. (2013). The perceptions of young rural drivers in NSW, Australia of speeding and associated risk: a mixed methods study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 55, 172-177. MAA. (2012, April 11). Youth Injury Prevention. Retrieved from Motor Accidents Authority : http://www.maa.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx?MenuID=156 Masuri, M. G., Isa, K. A., & Tahir, M. P. (2012). Children, Youth and Road Environment: Road Traffic Accident. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 38, 213–218. NSW Centre for Road Safety. (2013). Crash statistics. Retrieved from Transport for New South Wales: http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/downloads/accident_statistics_dl4.html NSW Government. (2014, April 29). NSW Centre for Road Safety. Retrieved from Roads and Maritime Services : http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/ NSW HSC Online. (2013). What are the priority issues for improving Australia's health? Retrieved from NSW HSC Online: http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/pdhpe/core1/focus/focus1_2/4004/1-2-2/health_pri1_2_2_5.htm Read More