Behavioural ways required to check road accidents

Optimistic bias is a widely observed cognitive error in which most individuals unrealistically perceive themselves to be at a lower risk for an adverse event than the average person. This perception influences rational decision-making and clouds ability to appreciate risk. I contend that this perception contributes significantly to the number of traffic accidents that occur on Ugandan roads.

Majority of road traffic accidents (30-35 per cent) are as a result of either careless driving or recklessness - and human responsibility for accidents accounts for up to 80 per cent. The other 20 per cent is vehicular defect, environmental and road conditions.

Drive around town or on the highways, a boda-boda rider, usually without a crash-helmet, feels he will be able to swiftly criss-cross around moving cars because his machine is perceived to be smaller, and can negotiates easily.., and a truck or taxis with bull-horn guards easily push through a squeezed carriage way because he surely knows smaller cars will not dare, a matooke, charcoal truck or speeding bus will find it ‘hard’ to give the right-of-way to an on-coming smaller vehicle - because the truck/bus driver is sure, you in the smaller car are aware of the grave implications of being ‘stubborn’ and staying on your side of the road.

The failure to adhere to traffic safety measures that have been advised and are universally known to either save lives or limit the severity of injury is result of optimistic bias to our individual safety, and imagining the ‘other average person’ is more at risk, and should therefore take more precaution. The perception of decreased susceptibility or vulnerability to an adverse event (injury or death) impairs individual motivation to engage in behaviours or practices to protect against or prevent the event. And this can explain non-use of crash helmets and seatbelts, exceeding speed limits etc.

This behavioural belief is responsible for majority of the fatality rate of about 61 road deaths per 10,000 vehicles on Uganda roads being among the leaders in the world. The government, through its various sectors, is pursuing a three ‘Es’ programme of education, enforcement, and engineering to stem the rising morbidity and mortality of the mostly productive age group of the country.

The enforcement aspect has so far done well given police reports of both express penalty scheme and court cases pursued and disposed off - with, for example, an accident cases conviction rate rising from 4 per cent in 2006 to 25 per cent in 2008 But this is unlikely to singularly stem injuries and deaths, given the systemic and structural challenges within the Force.

The education component, which should target self-protective and risk-taking behaviour, is lacking in content and effectiveness, and requires vigorous pursuance to have any hope of significantly reducing the devastating effects of road traffic accidents.

Uganda, with a record of having effectively reduced the prevalence of HIV/Aids, through health promotion campaigns of self-protective and preventive behaviours, at a time when our health care system was incompetent to handle therapeutic and rehabilitative aspects of the disease. The health care system now is poorly facilitated to handle victims of accidents, with most injuries reported as serious either dying within days, weeks or months or remaining bed-ridden.
The health promotion lessons learned from the fight against HIV/Aids in the 1990s - targeting individual assessment of vulnerability to acquisition of infection, and therefore encouraging precautionary behaviour, can be used to reduce accidents on our roads. The packaging and dissemination of these messages significantly influences the reception, acceptance and subsequent modification of risk-taking behaviour.

Dr Kasyaba works in Nyakibale Hospital in Rukungiri District
drkasyaba@gmail.com