KARACHI, Aug 19: About 90 road traffic injury cases were reported every day in the city on an average over the last six months during which more than 15,000 people received road-related injuries while 565 victims lost their lives; a six per cent increase in fatalities than the last year’s, which means three people lost their lives daily.

Of the total number of road traffic injury cases, about 2,000 victims were children of 15 years age or less and more than 900 injury cases pertained to motorcycle rider/pillion rider who were either 15 years or less.

These statistics were part of the half yearly report (Jan to June 2011) compiled by the Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre functioning at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s neurosurgery department.

The centre receives road traffic injury data from the JPMC, the Aga Khan University and Hospital (AKUH), the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH).

According to the report, 15,963 road trauma injury cases were reported at five major hospitals in Karachi over the last six months. Nearly 50 per cent of all road injury victims pertained to people aged 30 years or less while more than 800 injury cases involved pedestrian children, who were either 15 years age or less.

The six-month period saw a three per cent increase in road traffic injuries if compared to last year’s data of the same period.

Last year, during the same period, 531 fatal cases were recorded.

“Rider/pillion rider was the largest vulnerable group with more than 9,000 injury cases recorded and represented 60 per cent of all road trauma data. There was a 14 per cent increase in injury cases involving rider/pillion rider and a 35 per cent increase in their fatalities. A total number of 271 rider/pillion rider fatal cases were recorded,” said the report.

Pedestrians remained the second largest vulnerable group with 3,400 injury cases, representing 22 per cent of the road trauma data. However, there was a three per cent reduction in pedestrian fatalities (196 pedestrians lost their lives) and 10 per cent reduction in pedestrian injuries than the last year’s.

Factors contributing to accidents included injudicious action (43 per cent of total accidents that means 10,977 cases) relating to over-speeding, lane-jumping/over-taking, wrong way/oncoming traffic lane, underage driving and signal violation.

Driver/rider error caused 4,912 accidents.Factors such as deposit on the road, insufficient illumination, speed-breaker, dilapidated road, animal on carriageway, road, under-construction road, open manholes and unleveled manholes, improper road markings, open sewerage line, rain, fog, encroachment and hanging wire on the road, all together contributed to 1,183 accidents.

More than 95 per cent of riders/pillion riders involved in accidents did not wear safety helmets. Of all the vehicles involved in road trauma data, motorcycles involvement was 61 per cent while the involvement of heavy goods vehicles in the overall fatality was around 35 per cent.

Though buses/coaches directly contributed 10 per cent to the fatality rate, the vehicles injured more than 1,100 people.

The urban National Highway (running from the airport to Ghaggar Phatak) reported the highest number of fatalities; more than 40 of which 40 per cent were pedestrians and 40 per cent rider/pillion riders.

Korangi Road and Korangi Industrial Area road claimed 28 and 31 fatalities, respectively. Rider/pillion rider was the dominant victim on both these roads.Mauripur Road claimed 24 lives. Of them, 50 per cent were pedestrians while 350 injury cases were also reported here.

Korangi Town remained on the top in the fatal cases (10 per cent fatalities and more then 1,100 injuries), Bin Qasim and Gadap towns were the second highest in fatal cases with seven per cent each.

The DHA reported four per cent fatal cases (23) and over 800 injury cases. Other cantonments recorded four per cent fatality with more than 900 injury cases.

Forty-three per cent cases were recorded at the JPMC, 30 per cent at the ASH, 22 per cent at the CHK while the cases recorded at the AKUH and LNH were three per cent and two per cent, respectively.