A Review of Road traffic accident in Saudi Arabia: the neglected epidemic

Road traffic accidents (RTA) are continuing to be an occurrence of epidemic proportions both in the developed and developing world statistically becoming one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. In Saudi Arabia, road traffic injuries are increasing exponentially year by year in spite of advances in safety technology. This review is based on the analysis of all published articles on road traffic accident in KSA published during the last 10 years. Critical analysis revealed that most of these unfortunate events can be attributed to vehicles travelling at excess speed and or drivers disobeying traffic signals which are absolutely preventable in nature. RTA accounted for most of the trauma admissions to hospital with young adults, especially males, who are the at risk population. The most frequently injured body regions as reported in the studies were head and neck, followed by upper and lower extremities. Latest statistics of Saudi Arabia indicates that approximately 19 deaths and 4 injuries occur daily due to road traffic accidents. Hence, there arises an urgent need to compile a comprehensive demographic baseline statistics and pattern of injuries that will provide scientific evidence based information to effectively educate the public regarding road safety. It will also help to plan appropriate interventions that was previously overlooked to prevent such loss of life and lifelong disability.