ROAD ACCIDENTS – GOVERNANCE

News: 53 accidents, 19 deaths per hour in road crashes in 2022: Road Transport Ministry

 

What's in the news?

       The expansion of the country’s road network, including expressways and an increase in vehicle ownership continue to spur a rise in fatalities due to road accidents, with the severity of crashes worsening significantly over the last decade, according to government data.

 

Key takeaways:

       The severity of road crashes, measured by the number of people killed per 100 accidents, has increased over the past decade from 28.2% in 2012 to 36.5% in 2022, spiking above 37% during the pandemic.

 

India's road density:

       India’s road density at 1890.75 per 1000 sq.km of area in 2017-18 was higher than that of many developed countries though surface/paved road constituting 64.6 vehicles per kilometre of road length has increased from 28 vehicles in 2010 to 46 in 2020.

       This is indicative of the growing road traffic congestion in the country.

 

Reason for the poor road safety record in India:

1. Human errors:

       Reluctance of the Indians in wearing helmets, seat belts and other road safety equipment.

       Usage of mobile phones while driving as we are seeing often during our travels.

       Consumption of alcohol (Drunk and drive).

       Rash driving by youngsters in the name of enjoyment.

       Lack of awareness of traffic and road safety rules.

       Restlessness of the drivers especially cab drivers.

       Lack of behavioural change in adapting to the modern traffic laws.

2. Issues of Indian Roads:

       Lack of standardized road infrastructure.

       Presence of many black spots.

       Lack of enough gaps in the median on the national highways, untreated intersections and missing crash barriers.

       No warning symbols placed on many potholes caused by rains causing accidents.

       Uneven road surface because of lack of transparency and accountability from the highway department and road workers.

       Lack of planning to control congestion and traffic causing more time and making users to rash drive in a short period of time.

3. Issues in the side of vehicle manufacturers:

       Lack of vehicle safety standards.

       Making cars without airbags to target the consumption market rather than their safety.

       Boom in the automobile sector and the parallel rise of the Indian middle class has increased the volume of vehicles on the road.

       In a way, road safety is a function of income growth in a country as the manufacturers provide more safety provisions to high-end consumers and leave out the middle-class sections.

4. Weak law enforcement:

       Lack of stronger laws in punishing the violators.

       Lower conviction rate due to the corruption in traffic administration.

       Negligence of the authorities in checking the conditions of vehicles most number of times.

       Lack of rapid trauma care on highways and reluctance to treat by majority of the doctors despite being a law in place.

 

Impacts of road accidents:

1. Human losses - We lose about 1,50,000 people due to road accidents and about 60% of those deaths are in the 18-24 age group, which is a big loss and causes a higher fatality rate.

2. Economic losses - The road accidents causing loss to 3 percent of India's GDP due to the loss of demographic dividend and human capital in productive sectors.

3. Social losses - Job losses and related financial hardships, loss of amenity causing a fatal impact on the functioning of the whole family. About 40% of women reported a change in their working patterns post-accident (as the productive member of their family got affected).

4. Psychological impact - Those who suffered major injuries during accidents got suffered from both physical and mental trauma affecting their mental health and confidence.

 

Initiatives for road safety:

1. Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety:

       India agreed ways to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents - a key milestone within the new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.6.

2. Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030:

       It sets an ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

3. Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019:

       The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 was brought in to improve road safety in India by amending Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The amendment Act has introduced heavy fines for various offences.

4. 3-Year Action Agenda of NITI Aayog:

       Highlighting the standardizing the reporting of accidents & action map thereafter.

5. State Citizen Service Portals and e-FIR:

       Through their State Citizen Service Portals, five states/UTs, namely Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, have made it possible to file an e-FIR for reports of theft of vehicles, mobile phones, and documents where the accused is unknown.

6. Bharatmala Pariyojana:

       It is a new umbrella program aimed at improving the efficiency of the freight and passenger movement across the country by filling essential infrastructure gaps.

7. Vehicle Disposal Policy:

       Older automobiles pollute the environment 10 to 12 times more than newer vehicles and pose risk to road safety.

8. Delhi Government’s “Good Samaritans” Policy:

       Monetary incentive of Rs 2,000 and appreciation certificate will be given to people who help road accident victims in the national capital.

9. The Foundation’s Zero-Fatality Corridor (ZFC) programme:

       It was deployed on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2016, helping bring down road crash fatalities by 52%, as of 2020.

       Similar interventions were introduced in 2018 on the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway and helped reduce the road crash fatalities on this stretch by 61%, as of 2021.

 

WAY FORWARD:

       Countries should form transport policies in order to favour more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and using public transport.

       Ensuring the safety of all road users by improving laws and enforcement and making roads safer through infrastructural modifications such as raised platforms and safety humps, roundabouts, and optical markings are adopted to reduce road accidents.

       The vehicle manufacturers need to equip life saving technologies in the communitarian vehicles. They also need to ensure vehicular safety standards such as mandatory car crash standards and anti-locking brake systems on heavy vehicles.

       The government and the medical systems need to enhance emergency trauma care systems to save human lives. In a way, the need to deploy quick response ambulances every 50 km on National Highways by the National Highway Authority of India.

       Public campaign for road safety through electronic and print media.

       Identification of black spots and accident-prone areas and rectifying them by the adoption of correct means.

       Improving road accident data collection and proper database management and carrying out road safety audits.

       Underage drivers should be treated with zero tolerance. In India, strong punishments for violations should be considered and cumulative penalties for recurrent infringement should result in temporary license suspension or a permanent ban on driving.

 

In a way, to ensures road safety, need for multi-pronged strategy in India based on the 4 “E’s i.e. Education (promoting awareness), Engineering (safer road and vehicle infrastructure, including the application of smart transportation), Enforcement of safety laws and Emergency care including trauma care.