In September 2006, Indus Motor Company established the “‘Road Traffic Injury Research & Preventive Centre” (RTIR&PC) located at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, to compile road accident data from Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Abbasi Shahid Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, Civil Hospital and Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi.

Under the leadership of Dr. Rashid Jooma (the then DG Ministry of Health), the project also benefited from the continuous consultancy and guidance of Mr. Asad Jahangir (Ex DIG Sind Police), Dr. Junaid Razzak, Incharge Emergency, Aga Khan University Hospital and Prof. Dr. Mir Shabbar Ali, Transportation Engineering, NED University.

More than 165,000 injuries and fatalities have been recorded from September 2006 to June 2011. The results highlighted that motorcycle/pillion riders are the most vulnerable road user group accounting for 58% of all road traffic injuries. Further, more than 50% of motorcycle riders are under the age of 25 and 80% of fatalities amongst riders are caused by head injury. The research project revealed that more than 33,000 traffic accidents occur every year in Karachi alone and more than 50% of these involve young children.

This RTIR&PC project was well recognized at the highest level of local and federal governments and has been taken over by the World Health Organization in May 2011 as part of UN “Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-20”.