Assessment Helmet Usage among Two Wheeler Users in the South India

Background: In India, road traffic injuries are one of the top four leading causes of death and health loss among persons of age group 15-49 years. The share of two wheelers in total road accidents has increased from 28.8% in 2015 to 33.8% in 2016. Out of total of 52,500 two wheeler riders killed in road accidents during the calendar year 2016, 10,135 two-wheeler riders (19.3%) were reported to be not wearing helmets.

Aims: Mandatory helmet usage law was enforced in January 2016 for both riders and pillions in Bangalore.

Settings and Design: Randomly selected Traffic Junctions of Bangalore city, Karnataka, India. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain the helmet usage among two wheeler users.

Method and Materials: It is a cross sectional study, where 1471 two wheeler riders, pillions were observed at selected 6 traffic junctions using an observation checklist with different intervals of the time in weekdays and weekends. Information regarding socio demographic details and helmet compliance will be collected.

Results: In observational survey 1471 two wheeler users were observed at the 6 selected traffic junctions, among riders (82.18%) ,pillions (72.82%) wore helmet. Helmet usage (riders-87.64%) (pillions-76.03%) in inner city junction and in outer ring road junction (riders-74.88%) (pillions-55.12%) respectively. helmet usage in weekdays was 6% more than in weekends among riders.

Conclusion: Nearly 20% of riders and 30%of pillions were not wearing helmets. Compliance to ISI (Indian Standard) helmets and buckling of the helmets was poor in both the users.