Strengthening of Community Action for the Reduction of Motorcycle Accidents in Dezful, Iran

Background: Road traffic accidents are considered to be a leading cause of injuries across the world. Human factors have been reported to play a key role in road traffic accidents. The present study aimed to explore the approaches to the reduction of human errors and motorcycle accidents. Methods: A participatory multistage intervention was designed and implemented through team participation. In addition, campaign interventions were implemented on the urban and high school levels on 148 students who owned motorcycles. The campaign encompassed seven strategies on the urban level and eight strategies on the school level in 2015. Results: Compared to the same period in the past year, the rate of motorcycle accidents reduced from 56.91 to 47.32 (9.59%) and 65.34 to 51.77 (13.57%) in the one-month and three-month interventions, respectively. In addition, the human factors involved in motorcycle accidents (e.g., knowledge of students) improved significantly, while no significant differences were observed in the factors of attitude and behavior. Conclusion: According to the results, the cooperation of all the stakeholders of motorcycles accidents in the design and implementation of evidence-based interventions could significantly reduce the rate of motorcycles accidents on an urban level.