Introduction: Road traffic crashes are a significant public health challenge in view of the high morbidity and mortality for which they are responsible. Objective: This study aims to describe the frequency and profile of road traffic crashes in the city of Lubumbashi. Methods: A retrospective descrip-tive study was conducted between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017. Included are all cases of vehicles registered with the road safety police, involved in a traffic crash. The data were processed using SPSS version 23 software (SPSS, Armonk, NY). Results: The study focused on 3495 cases of road traffic crashes registered with the road traffic police service from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. These crashes were caused mainly by male drivers (98.6%). January had a large number of road crashes (9.2%) followed by that of October (9.1%); with 17.9% of the cases, crashes were on a Sunday. In 10% of road crashes there were fatalities recorded. Night driving; driving downtown; the use of public transport vehicles as well as the fact of driving on a long straight road predisposed to fatal road crashes in Lubumbashi (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Roads are designed to allow human movement; however there is major risk of injury and death particularly in holiday months and at night. Awareness campaigns can be used as a tool to reduce the pandemic of life-threatening traffic accidents. Some health education channels like schools, churches, political parties, socio-cultural associations, trade unions can be useful for this purpose (road prevention).
Cite this paper
Kandolo, S. I. , Hardcastle, T. C. , Matungulu, C. M. , Ngongo, G. M. , Bitambile, B. N. F. , Zambeze, J. B. K. S. and Ilunga, B. K. (2020). Road Crashes: An Anthropic Pandemic, Case of the City of Lubumbashi. Open Access Library Journal, 7, e6038. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1106038.
Lawson, F.L., Schuurman, N., Oliver, L. and Nathens, A.B. (2013) Health & Place Evaluating Potential Spatial Access to Trauma Center Care by Severely Injured Patients. Health Place, 19, 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.10.011
Kandolo, S.I., et al. (2014) Factors Associated with Road Accidents in the City of Lubumbashi. Sante Publique, 26, 889-895. https://doi.org/10.3917/spub.146.0889
Mekonnen, T.H., Tesfaye, Y.A. and Moges, H.G. (2019) Factors Associated with Risky Driving Behaviors for Road Traffic Crashes among Professional Car Drivers in Bahirdar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2016: A Cross-Sectional Study. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 24, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-019-0772-1
Barrimah, I., Midhet, F. and Sharaf, F. (2012) Epidemiology of Road Traffic Injuries in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: Consistency of Police and Health Data. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6, 31-41. https://doi.org/10.12816/0005971
Mondal, P., Kumar, A., Bhangale, U.D. and Tyagi, D. (2011) A Silent Tsunami on Indian Road: A Comprehensive Analysis of Epidemiological Aspects of Road Traffic Accidents. British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, 1, 14-23. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJMMR/2011/106
Verster, T. and Fourie, E. (2018) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of South African Fatal Road Accidents. South African Journal of Science, 114, 63-69. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2018/20170427
Manna, N., Mallik, S. and Mandal, P. (2012) Epidemiological Factors of Road Traffic Accidents: A Study in a Tertiary Care Setting in India. Journal of Pakistan Medical Students, 3, 48-53.
Potoglou, D., Carlucci, F., Cirà, A. and Restaino, M. (2018) Factors Associated with Urban Non-Fatal Road-Accident Severity. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 25, 303-310. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457300.2018.1431945
Bi Vroh, J.B., et al. (2016) Déterminants des accidents mortels de la circulation routière en Cote d’Ivoire de 2002 à 2011. Sante Publique (Paris), 28, 647-653.
https://doi.org/10.3917/spub.165.0647
Nasiri, N., Nazari, P., Kamali, A., Sharifi, A. and Sharifi, H. (2019) Factors Contributing to Fatal Road Traffic Accidents in the South of Kerman during the Period from 2013 to 2017, Iran. Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology, 8, 6-11. https://doi.org/10.29252/johe.8.1.6
