Vol. 5, Issue 3, Part B (2021)

Background and purpose: In many low-income countries, the increase in the number of vehicles is likely to have an impact on road traffic fatalities. The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of fatal road traffic accidents in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study on data from road traffic accidents in 6 cities of the DRC over a period from 2011 to 2016, using data from the police stations of these 6 cities. It took into account all accidents on the public road (AVP) that were the subject of a report by police officers. Fatal traffic accident was the dependent variable while socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral and environmental determinants were the independent variables.

Results: In six years, 4,635 accidents have been notified which have caused 945 fatal accidents, an overall frequency of 20.4%. After adjustment in multivariate analysis, the dry season (aOR: 1.66 95% CI: 1.41-1.96), public transport (aOR: 7.11 95% CI: 5.58-9.05), wrong maneuver (aOR: 2.93 95% CI: 2.22-3.87), the wrong crossing (aOR: 3.91 95% CI: 2.59-5.92) and drunk driving were (ORa: 4.32 95% CI: 3.56-5.23) were the independent determinants of fatal accidents.

Conclusion: The fatal accident was linked to human and environmental factors, hence the need for behavior change awareness campaigns