Epidemiologic study of fatality caused by motorcycle accidents in Tehran province during 2011-2016

Motorcycling is one of the major causes of road traffic accidents and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable road users. The present study aimed to determine the epidemiology of fatality caused by motorcycle accidents in Tehran province.

In this cross-sectional study, all the information of deaths related to motorcycle accidents during 2011-2016 were collected and investigated by the Legal Medicine Organization. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 25.0.

Of the 2098 dead cases in motorcycle accidents, 95.8% were men and 4.2% were women. Mean age of the deceased was 28/9±17/7 years with the highest frequency in the age group of 18-24 years (30.6%). The most important cause of death was head trauma (64.1%). In terms of the deceased’ status, 73.7% of the deceased people were drivers and 22.6%were pillion passengers. The highest rate of fatality was observed among those with under-diploma education (62.8%) and self-employed (38.2%). The major mechanism of motorcycle accidents resulted from collision with moving vehicles (76.6%). Most of the accident cases occurred in urban areas (80%) and the majority of deceased people died in hospital (53.9%).

Given the high mortality rate among men, younger ages, people with low education, urban roads and the fact that head trauma were the leading cause of death for most deceased, appropriate preventive measures seem to be essential for reducing motorcycle accidents.