Identification of vital vehicle mechanical defects causing road traffic accidents in Pakistan

Abstract: Vehicle Mechanical Defects (VMD) is one of the major cause of Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) in developing countries. This paper presents the quantitative analysis of  RTA on Motorways in Pakistan caused due to VMD. The  data is collected from the National Highway and Motorways Police (NHMP). The Data for 1585 RTA on the Motorways of Pakistan for the years 2003-2012 were reviewed. The objective of this research was to establish the contribution of VMD to RTA. A vehicle survey, based on a convenience sample of 290 vehicles was also done at the Toll plaza of the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1). The response rate to the survey was 64%. The survey identified that 80% of vehicles had no maintenance record.  About 74% and 65% vehicles lacked annual wheel balancing and annual wheel alignement respectively. About 61% of the vehicles inspected had wheel related defects and 59% of the vehicles had brake fluid less than the recommended level, 20% vehicles had a brake fluid leak in their brake system, and these may, therefore, be at a risk of causing an RTA. In the RTA data from the NHMP, 32% of all RTA on Motorways are due to VMD and that the two vital vehicle mechanical defects (VVMD) are tyre blowouts and brake failures. The average tyre burst is 17.36% and average brake failure is 5.38%. Tyre blowouts were responsible for about 55.6% of all RTA caused due to VMD while brake failures were 18% of the total RTA caused due to vital causes.  RTA in Pakistan can be reduced if regular vehicle fitness check and awareness campaigns about tyre and brake system defects are carried out to reduce RTA.