Assessment of current gaps and implementation barriers in provincial road traffic laws of Sindh

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Health Policy & Management (MSc Health Policy & Mgmt)

Department

Community Health Sciences

Abstract

Road Traffic Injury is the leading cause of healthy years of life lost for an estimated 1.35 million deaths each year. Therefore, road traffic injuries are among the top 15 causes of death worldwide and will become the fifth major cause of death by 2030. Pakistan accounts for 2.42% of total deaths due to RTI. The ageadjusted Death Rate is 17.12 per 100,000 population which marks the 95th position in the world. Whereas in Karachi, annual incidences of road traffic accidents are 184.3 per 100,000 population, and mortality to be 5.7% per 100,000 populations. To address this alarming issue of road safety, provincial laws are present. However, the presence of these laws has not succeeded in decreasing the burden which is seen by the high incidences of road accidents on daily basis. Study objective: The study aimed to evaluate the laws related to road traffic injuries in Sindh and to explore the gaps in the implementation of these laws. Methodology: .The study employed an exploratory qualitative research design using two approaches i.e. policy content analysis and in-depth interviews guided by the conceptual framework of the Haddon matrix. Policy content analysis was done for gap identification of laws by comparing the existing provincial road traffic laws with the suggested standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, to identify the barriers in the implementation of provincial laws at different levels (pre-crash, crash, and post-crash) in-depth interviews were conducted. The study was carried out for three months. Results: The results of policy content analysis identified that the provincial road safety laws related to the pre-crash category (including all three factors i.e. human, vehicle, and environment) are partially meeting the suggested standards of WHO. vi Similarly, laws related to the human factor of the crash and post-crash categories are partially meeting the standards of WHO whereas, the vehicle and environmental factors are not meeting WHO standards. Moreover, barriers in the implementation of road safety laws were also identified for each category. The major barriers reported for the pre-crash category were inadequate vehicle fitness, inappropriate issuance of driving license, poor road design and layouts, outdated law, reckless behavior of road users, poor coordination among institutions, lack of implementation and enforcement, and lack of fundings. Barriers reported for the crash category were impediments on roads, non-compliance to preventive measures, high occupancy, and lack of vehicle standards, and absence of adequate crash protective designs. Similarly, for the post-crash category following barriers were identified, non-resourceful ambulances, lack of rescue facilities, lack of traffic police involvement, and lack of legal attention to post-crash. Conclusion: Study findings explicitly demonstrate the gaps in the provincial road safety laws and the barriers in the implementation of these laws in Sindh. This study concluded that the provincial laws are outdated and need to be amended with modern-era road safety laws. Furthermore, the study also identified the potential barriers in the implementation of laws that are modifiable and must be given high importance to achieve road safety goals. Few of the identified barriers from the study are poor coordination among institutions, lack of enforcement, noncompliance to preventive measures and poor road design and layouts. Therefore, the study suggests that government should play a significant role in bringing together several key stakeholders including the ministry of communications, traffic police experts, highway and motorway police experts, chief of National Transport Research Centre, and public health experts to ensure vii appropriate coordination among institution to cater road safety issues by strategic means. Moreover, police enforcement needs to be hasty, sustained, and frequent to increase the perceived risk of being caught and penalized

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