Epidemiology of Karachi road traffic crash mortality in 2013

Road Traffic Crash (RTC) is the eighth leading cause of death globally. In a recent World Health Organization report, there were 5,192 RTC deaths reported from Pakistan in 2010. The Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Center (RTIRPC) is a unique public-private public health enterprise in Karachi, and collects data from five major public and private hospitals emergency departments in the city. Cumulatively, 1130 deaths were recorded in the year 2013. Males accounted for 981 (86.8%) deaths. The most vulnerable decades of life were twenties and thirties; accounting for 307 (27.2%) of all deaths. In terms of involvement of vehicle type in fatalities; over half 577 (51.1%) of all fatalities involved motorbikes, while the second most common type of vehicle involved were buses/coasters which accounted for 108 (9.6%) fatalities. In the burgeoning cities of developing countries, road injury and fatality surveillance can fulfill a vital role in highlighting the human cost of rapid motorization.