Epidemiological profile of road traffic accidents involving motorized two-wheelers in Urban areas in benin

Abstract

Motorcyclists are among vulnerable road users and account for 28% of road traffic fatalities worldwide. In Benin, the problem is accentuated in large cities such as Cotonou and Parakou, where road transport is dominated by motorized two-wheelers. This paper aimed to study the epidemiological profile of RTAs involving motorized two-wheelers in Cotonou and Parakou (Benin), from 2016 to 2017. This was a retrospective study based on the database of the National Centre for Road Safety. This is a public institution in charge of implementing the road safety policy and road traffic accident surveillance at the national level. Logistic regression was applied to assess the associations between independent variables and the outcome variable. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. From 2016 to 2017, 1,628 road traffic accidents involving motorized two-wheelers were recorded in Cotonou and Parakou, of which 62 (3.81%) were fatal. RTAs recorded in Parakou (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.29 – 4.93), single-vehicle crashes (AOR = 7.73, 95% CI = 2.70 – 22.07), collisions between motorized two-wheelers and trucks (AOR = 12.42, 95% CI = 6.16 – 25.04), collisions between motorized two-wheelers and pedestrians (AOR = 6.46, 95% CI = 2.70 – 15.47) and time slot from midnight to 6 a.m. (AOR = 3.88, 95% CI = 1.61 – 9.34) were significantly more deadly. Measures targeting motorcyclists should be undertaken such as the implementation of an integrated model of communication strategies.