Awareness & Practice of Road Safety Measures among Under Graduate Medical Students of a Medical College in Bengaluru, Karnataka

Background: Road traffic accidents are considered as one of the important public health problems around the world. Data from India showed that more than 1.3 lakh people died on Indian roads, giving India the dubious honor of topping the global list of fatalities from road crashes. Rapid urbanization, motorization, lack of appropriate road engineering, poor awareness levels, nonexistent injury prevention programmes, and poor enforcement of traffic laws has exacerbated the situation.

Method: This cross sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate medical students from 1st to 9th term. Data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire by interview method. Convenient sampling was done. A sample size of 260 was calculated assuming the awareness levels among medical students as 50%, a relative precision of 6% and confidence level of 95%.

Results: The overall awareness levels among the study participants regarding road safety measures are good. More than 90% students were aware of the basic safety measures like regular use of seat belts, distraction caused by loud music and speed limitations. In the present study only 4 students (1.5%) have admitted being involved in drunken driving.