About 450,000 road accidents occur every year in India, killing about 150,000 people and injuring many more. In fact, India’s road accidents are included in the list of countries with the highest number of deaths occur. Estimates claim that India has 53 road accidents every hour and one death every four minutes. This is pretty high as far as fatality on the road is concerned.
The Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in March this year laid these statistics on the table of Parliament. According to him there were 158,964 two-wheeler road accidents in India in 2020, in which 56,873 deaths were recorded. This figure is staggering and it all happened due to reckless driving, sometimes stunts and show offs with over-speeding and violation of all laws.
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According to the data made available by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, in 2019, 56,136 people died in road accidents across India involving two-wheelers, while the total number of accidents involving two-wheelers stood at 167,184. To prevent road accidents, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has formulated a multi-tasking strategy that addresses the issue of road safety on the basis of education, engineering of roads and vehicles, enforcement and emergency care. All such steps are fine but the actual act which leads to accidents is performed by the rider on the road.
As two-wheelers become more popular in the absence of public transport, the number of road accidents involving these is also growing. More than a third that is about 37 per cent of those killed in road accidents.
More crashes and deaths are resulting from faulty licensing laws, no training, poor roads and unsafe helmets and fun on road. Just correcting helmet use and maintaining speed limit could reduce the risk of fatal injuries by 42 per cent and head injuries by 69 per cent, a World Health Organisation has reported.
As the gross national income per capita rises, the number of two-wheelers also increases. According to the United Nations Motorcycle Helmet Study published in 2016, the poorer the country, the higher the growth in purchase of two wheelers. An exponential, growth in a country’s two-wheeler fleet might result in a rapid increase in the number of motorcycle crashes.
According to a study by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India has witnessed a rapid growth in per capita incomes in the last decade, which led to people buying more vehicles, particularly two-wheelers. India’s per capita income grew by 28 per cent between 2013 and 2017 while two-wheeler registrations increased by 46 per cent (compared to 44 per cent overall new vehicle registrations) over the same period. Last year, 2.12 crore two-wheelers were sold in India and the annual sales are projected to reach 2.66 crore units by 2025 at 2.6 per cent growth rate, according to UnivDatos.
When purchase of two wheelers is articulated safety is not high on our agenda, what matters is looks of the bike along with its power and speed. Together, two-wheelers and pedestrians account for 54 per cent of accident-related deaths in India and are the most vulnerable category in line with global trends, according to the ministry report. In contrast, Singapore has multi-tiered licence categories and minimum age requirements corresponding to the power of the bikes. In India unfortunately there is no such categorisation.
Ultimately all flaws in the system coupled with rash driving lands on the road risking people life. In fact, the link road between the Taleigao and Caranzalem has become a ‘Formula One’ track for many youngsters on the bike. Fatalities have also occurred on this ‘track’ but the police have so far turned a blind eye to these speeding motorcyclists. Installation of speedometer and CCTV camera can stem this menace and save lives.
