Studies have revealed that there is one death on the Indian roads every four minutes and that this is expected to escalate further in the next five years. Sadly, a large chunk of the road accident victims are children, particularly school students.
In the past decade, more than 12 lakh people have been killed in road accidents in India – this translates to over 380 deaths a day, equivalent to a jumbo jet crash. According to ‘Indians for Road Safety’ (an NGO working on safer roads), one person dies every four minutes in road accidents in the country, and that the figure could increase to one death in three minutes by 2020. The NGO estimated the cost of such accidents at Rs. 3.8 lakh crore or 3 per cent of the GDP. It was also revealed that half of all the deaths on the country’s roads are among vulnerable road users – motor-cyclists, pedestrians and cyclists. Most of the accidents are said to be taking place due to lack of strict implementation of road safety measures.
In a country that has second largest road network in the world, it is a pity that there is an urgent need to curb a lackadaisical approach towards road users safety. India has only one per cent of vehicles registered world over, but accounts for 9 per cent of the fatal road accidents. A survey jointly commissioned by Save Life Foundation and the Global Road Safety Partnership (a hosted project of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) in 12 cities of the country, including the four metros, revealed that three out of five people feel unsafe while travelling on Indian roads as drivers, pedestrians or passengers. During the survey, the general public expressed strong support for the Union Government’s Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014 and they expressed hope that roads will become safer. In fact, 81 per cent of all respondents strongly favour passing of the bill and 90 per cent believe that passing the bill will be an important accomplishment for the Indian Parliament, said the survey report. The survey further revealed that 91 per cent of respondents believe that increased penalties for traffic violations will improve road safety while 97 per cent respondents favored the various statutes for protection of children during commute.
Indeed, everyday numerous children fall prey to road accidents. Official statistics have shown a staggering number of children loosing their lives in road crashes. In 2014 alone, 16,901 children were killed in road accidents in the country. This is nearly 675 per cent more than the reported deaths of children from all crimes against them put together. Experts in the field point out that the increasing number of incidents involving the deaths of children in road crashes reveals not only the lack of awareness but also the existing police gaps with regard to road safety.
According to experts, the problem is not only visible human factors, such as a lack of respect for pedestrians and rash driving, but also the current legislative framework that doesn’t incorporate comprehensive provisions for ensuring a safe commute for children. For instance, the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, does not necessitate the use of child restraints in four-wheelers, which can be extremely effective in reducing injuries and deaths. Regarding two-wheelers, although the Act provides for protective headgear for both driver and pillion rider, it doesn’t lay down the much-needed standards for child helmets and the provision, therefore, is hardly implemented vis-à-vis children. Moreover, the act gives state governments the power to make additional rules in this regard and several state motor vehicle rules have further diluted helmet requirements by specifically excluding children from the category. The Central Legislation is completely silent on ensuring safety of children in non-motorized transport.
A latest report by World Bank on Global Burden of Disease from Motorized Road Transport has recommended countries like India reported high road fatalities to follow ‘agency-first’ model. ‘Establishing a lead road safety agency, building reliable data systems and other system-wide investments that encompass vehicle quality, enforcement, safe infrastructure, and road users in the pre-crash, in-crash and post-crash stages are key’, it recommended.
Interestingly, the Union Government, following its inability to table the Road Transport and Safety bill in the Parliament has initiated setting up an unified authority for road safety and other allied issued through an executive order, which would deal with issues including formulation of norms for issuing driving licenses, crash test and safe vehicle designs. The government said that there was a need for Road Safety Authority (RSA) so that it can get hold of the issue, which is diverse and relates to several ministries, departments and state governments. The authority, as per government’s plan, would be accountable and would have the task cut out to execute the mandate through setting standards and the monitoring mechanism for implementation of its guidelines and their compliance. The authority will also specify norms for uniform database for collecting and managing date on licenses, registrations, insurance, permits, road crashes, offences and penalties. Besides the Central authority, there will be similar authorities at State levels. At present, the government depends on the road crash data that is collected from police stations across the country. Unfortunately, through the proposal was mooted over a year ago, not much headway has been made on this front since then.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
