Encroachments on streets and sidewalks compound the problem. Piloting efforts to modify pedestrian behavior and the environment they negotiate should be considered to reduce pedestrian deaths. Busses account for a disproportionate number of road traffic accident fatalities in Karachi, Pakistan and other developing countries. We evaluated potentially dangerous bus driving and commuting practices that increase risk of road accidents and the effect of traffic police on bus behavior. We observed 250 episodes each of disembarking and embarking commuters, busses stopping, and moving on the road at ten of Karachi's highest risk intersections for traffic injuries.
Risky behavior is common among both Karachi bus drivers and bus commuters.
The traditional efforts to regulate bus traffic through traffic police is ineffective. An evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of blood alcohol concentrations obtained by a breathalyser survey in a casualty department in Kenya W. Odero, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. Before promoting any method of blood alcohol evaluation , as a routine procedure for monitoring the association of alcohol with different types of injuries in Kenya, we sought to assess the reliability and validity of blood alcohol results obtained by a breathalyser, using gas chromatography analysis values as the reference, in a sample of 179 trauma-affected adults presenting to casualty departments. The study, thus reaffirms that breathalyser tests are of value in detecting high blood alcohol levels and can be used to rapidly identify intoxicated subjects. The procedure is easy to perform and can be used for monitoring the association between blood alcohol level and driving in low-income developing countries.