Road safety challenges in urban India: Perspectives of Indian employees of a multinational corporation

Background: India's road traffic traffic injury/fatality rates have increased over the past decade. We sought to understand the road use experiences of Indian employees of a multinational corporation in navigating roads, exposures to road traffic injuries, and strategies they perceive would enhance road safety. Methods: Six focus group interviews were conducted with 75 adult employees in 4 different corporate offices in the cities of Bangalore and Pune in April, 2013. Focus groups were facilitated by academic researchers. After informed consent participants completed a brief written survey about road/vehicle use/road safety behaviors. Other than participants, no corporate personnel were present or given access to focus group recordings/transcripts. Qualitative descriptive analysis was used to identify salient categories and themes. Results: Themes that emerge highlight: comingling of diverse vehicles and pedestrians pose differential risk on roadways, insufficient infrastructure for population growth, lack of shared and enforced rules, limited public transportation, temporal variations in road risk, lack of safety behaviors (mobile phone use, limited helmet/seatbelt use), and exposure to crashes result in unrelenting stress for road users. Recommendations elicited from participants include: delivery of road safety education in an interactive manner, enforcing rules on corporate campuses, highlighting employees who embody safety practices and those who consistently engage in unsafe practices, stricter enactment of government licensing, testing and education, and heightened individual discipline. Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the complexities of navigating roads in urban India and point to targeted interventions at the individual, employer, and government level to improve road safety.