Study of Car Accident Injuries Admitted to Hospitals Before and After Adoption of New Traffic Law in Iran

Background: Driving fines are one of the tools to reduce driving violations, and consequently, injuries due to car accidents. In 2010, a new set of laws and fines were passed with the aim of deterring driving violations. Since the second half of March 2013, the new laws and fines were enforced throughout the country. To compare the number of accident victims referred to the hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences before and after the implementation of the new traffic offenses law. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The study population consisted of all accident victims referred to the emergency department of hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from March 2014 to September 2017. Sampling method was total enumerative method. For data collection, a checklist was used. After obtaining the necessary permissions, the researcher completed the checklist by referring to the hospitals and the Deputy of Treatment of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The relevant data were extracted from the Hospital Information and MedCare Systems. In addition to comparing the average number of victims before and after the implementation of the new law, the average number of victims were compared in terms of the body part injury, the site of the accident before and after the implementation of the law. The obtained data were analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistics including t test. Results: The average monthly number of casualties before the implementation of the new law was 3053 and after the implementation it increased to 3492 people. This difference was statistically significant (P≤0.05). Although this increase was observed in the average number of the victims in all four body parts groups, after the implementation of the law, only the difference between the average number of victims with multiple body injuries was statistically significant (P≤0.05). In addition, the average number of the accident location in all four groups of the accident locations increased after the implementation of the law. However, only the difference between the average number of the accidents occurred on suburban roads before and after the implementation was statistically significant (P≤0.05). Conclusion: On the whole, increasing driving fines does not seem to have a significant impact on reducing road traffic injuries. A more detailed investigation of this challenge is recommended to identify possible causes of the ineffectiveness of fines.