title: Qualitative study to explore stakeholder perceptions related to road safety in Hyderabad, India.
abstract: The Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Programme in India focuses on reduction of drink driving and increase in helmet usage in the city of Hyderabad. During the early stages of implementation, perceptions of stakeholders on road safety were explored as part of the monitoring and evaluation process for a better understanding of areas for improving road safety in Hyderabad. Fifteen in-depth interviews with government officials, subject experts, and road traffic injury victims, and four focus group discussions with trauma surgeons, medical interns, nurses, and taxi drivers were conducted, analysed manually, and presented as themes. Respondents found Hyderabad unsafe for road-users. Factors such as inadequate traffic laws, gaps in enforcement, lack of awareness, lack of political will, poor road engineering, and high-risk road users were identified as threats to road safety. The responsibility for road safety was assigned to both individual road-users and the government, with the former bearing the responsibility for safe traffic behaviour, and the latter for infrastructure provision and enforcement of regulations. The establishment of a lead agency to co-ordinate awareness generation, better road engineering, and stricter enforcement of traffic laws with economic and non-economic penalties for suboptimal traffic behaviour, could facilitate improved road safety in Hyderabad.
authors.affiliation: Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, India. Electronic address: shailaja.t@iiphh.org.
authors.forename: Shailaja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tetali
authors.affiliation: Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lakshmi
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Shivam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gururaj
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wadhwaniya
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Adnan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Hyder
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004779:Environment Design / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D016495:Police; D011050:Policy Making; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012449:Safety / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012926:Social Control, Formal / Q000379:methods
keywords: Drink driving; Helmet; Hyderabad; India; Injury; Road safety