The people every day receive injuries in a road accident due to various reasons mainly high speeding as it is one of the most dangerous habits on the road. In Pakistan speeding has become so commonplace that most of the time we don’t even give a second thought to someone that is traveling above the speed limit. Globally 1.25 million people die according to World Health Organization (WHO), in road traffic accidents every year and about 50 million sustain injuries. Statistics also revealed that road accidents in the last 10 years in Pakistan, 7,000 to 10,000 people die every year all over the country. Worldwide disability adjusted life years (DALYs) because of road traffic accidents, in all ages, is 41.2 (millions) which is 27 percent of the total DALYs. It is predicted that worldwide by the year 2020, road traffic crashes will account for about 23 million deaths and road traffic injuries may become the third common cause of death and disability, from their current position of ninth. Mortality because of road traffic accidents is suspected to raise by 83 percent in developing countries and to decline by 27 percent in developed countries.
In Pakistan historically, health policies have been based towards curative services and tertiary health care rather than prevention. In such an environment, injuries cannot be a priority agenda for health decision makers. Road safety is a rising concern, like other non-communicable diseases, all over the world particularly in the developing countries. There are main causes of road accidents in Pakistan which are as below.
Distracted driving
The number one cause of car accidents is not a criminal that drove drunk, sped or ran a red light. Distracted drivers are the top cause of car accidents in the country. A distracted driver is a motorist that diverts their attention from the road, usually to talk on a cell phone, send a text message or eat food.
Over speeding
In Pakistan, many drivers ignore the speed limit and drive 10, 20 and sometimes 30 mph over the limit. Speed kills, and traveling above the speed limit is an easy way to cause a road accident. The faster people drive, the slower their reaction time will be if they need to prevent an auto accident.
Reckless driving
If people don’t drive carefully, and they may end up in a needless car accident. That’s what often happens to reckless drivers who speed, change lanes too quickly or tailgate before causing a car accident. Reckless drivers are often impatient in traffic so be sure to take extra care around aggressive drivers.
Running red lights
When they are driving car, red means stop and not doing so usually leads to car accidents. Drivers that run red lights, run the risk of causing wrongful death because they often cause side-impact collisions at high speeds. To avoid a road accident, look both ways for oncoming cars as they approach a green light.
Running stop signs
Stop signs should never be ignored, but when they are, serious road/car accidents are often the result. Each year, thousands of road accidents occur because one driver ran a stop sign. Many rollover accidents and side-impact road accidents result from drivers that run stop signs. Drivers/people should always look both ways when proceeding through a stop sign.
Teenage drivers
Unfortunately in Pakistan, teenagers aren’t often known for their carefulness. When teen drivers hit the roads they don’t always know what to do and that lack of experience ends up causing road accidents.
Unsafe lane changes
Furthermore, when drivers don’t make safe lane changes properly, it often leads to a road accident. To prevent a needless road accident, use turn signal, check blind spots and always proceed carefully into the next lane.
Wrong-way driving
It is said that everyone has lapses in judgment, but when behind the wheel of a car, those clouded instincts can be deadly. Drivers can turn down a street thinking it is a normal right turn, when in actuality, it is a one-way street in the opposite direction. When they go the wrong way, everyone is in danger because as they head towards a road accident in the country.
Improper turns
The reason that people have stop lights, turn signals, and lanes designated for moving either right or left as opposed to straight is because when drivers ignore the principles of the road, road accidents are often the consequence. To prevent a road accident, always look for signs and obey the appropriate right-of-way before they make a turn.
Tire blowouts
Most highways in Pakistan are littered with the scattered remains of a tire blowout. Tire blowouts can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicle, and they are particularly dangerous for bigger automobiles like semi-trucks. When encountering a tire blowout, try to maintain control of their vehicle and pull over safely and people will probable avoid a serious road accident.
Fog
In the different areas of Pakistan, fog isn’t the most common weather occurrence, and that’s good news for road accidents statistics. Driving is a skill that requires the ability to see, but fog makes it very problematic to see sometimes greater than a car length in front of people. Avoid car accidents through using head lights — and never high beams — when driving in the fog.
Street racing
Glorified by the Fast and the Furious movie franchise in the country, street racing is an underground culture of fast cars and deadly car accidents. With turbo engines and nitrous oxide boosters, cars often reach very high speeds during a street race, making any resulting car accident much more dangerous and improbable to yield any survivors.