Abstract

Background:
Road traffic accident (RTA) is an injury due to crashes originating from, terminating with or involving a vehicle partially or fully on a public road. RTA's are responsible for a substantial portion of morbidity and mortality. The aim of the current study was to determine the type and contributing factors to RTAs in Arar and Turaif cities of Saudi Arabia.
Methodology:
A cross-sectional study was carried out on randomly selected drivers from Arar and Turaif cities, of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from 241 adolescent drivers using a pre-designed questionnaire which included questions designed to achieve the study objectives in a systematic manner.
Results:
Regarding traffic violations within a year, 5.6% exceeded the speed limit, 6% lost their driving license, 2.5% had stopped or yielded violation and only 0.4% had a red light violation. RTAs were frequent with the individuals aged between 15-18 years old with a percent of 63.5% followed by 16.1% in the age group less than 15 years and only 6.7% above 18 years. Regarding distraction habits during driving our study found that 53.7% used the cell phone while they drive and 12.6% smoked while driving. Most of the road accident injuries (RTIs) occurred during sunny weather (42.1%) and rainy weather (15.4%). Regarding deaths, 76.8% of the total crashes didn't result in any deaths while only 2.1% resulted in one death and 1.4% resulted in two deaths and 3.9% resulted in four deaths or more. A significant relationship was found to exist between age group and distraction habits while driving and RTAs (p

Key words: Road traffic accidents (RTAs); Factors; Distraction habits; Driving; Disability; Death; Arar; Northern Saudi Arabia.