Objective: The annual mortality of road traffic injuries (RTIs) is estimated to be over 80,000 in India; however, there is not enough information about the magnitude, pattern, and factors associated with RTIs in a population-based scenario, where the police and hospital records suffer from severe underreporting. This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the burden, pattern, and risk factors of RTIs in the population of Pune City.

Method: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 9014 individuals in a randomly selected and representative sample of the population from 14 administrative wards of the city from March 2008 to April 2009.

Results: The annual incidence rate of RTIs was 93.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 83.2–103.2) per 1000 individuals and after adjustment for age it was 76.4 per 1000 individuals. Injury occurrence was significantly more among the age group 15–30, males, and students and workers. Univariate analysis showed a significant association between RTIs and age, gender, occupation, mode of transport, driving a vehicle, and alcohol abuse. Multivariate analysis showed that only age, driving a vehicle, and alcohol abuse were the factors associated with RTIs.

Conclusion: The magnitude of RTIs in India is very high, which is not reflected in police registration reports.