The number of road accident deaths is steadily increasing every year, in India. More than 350 people die in road accidents daily, 4 to 5 times that number suffer serious injuries including life-long disabilities. Developed nations in the West, on the other hand, have succeeded in cutting their number of road accident fatalities drastically.
Indeed, India has the highest number of fatalities in road accidents in the world, with one person being killed in a road mishap every four minutes. Official statistics revealed that in 2015, there were over 5 lakh road accidents in the country, of which 1.46 lakh people were killed and 3.30 lakh injured. In 2014, 1.37 lakh people were killed and around three lakh were crippled in 4.89 lakh road accidents. Earlier, in 2013, 4.86 lakh road accidents were recorded in the country, in which 1.28 lakh people were killed while 2.81 lakh suffered injuries. Statistics clearly indicate a steady rise in the number of accidents, as well as in the number of people killed and injured.
Mumbai has got the dubious distinction of the city with maximum road accidents in the country, while the number of deaths in road mishaps is highest in the national capital; Delhi-Mumbai had the highest number of 23,468 road accidents, while Delhi had the highest number of 1,622 deaths due to road accidents in 2013. All the cities in the country accounted for a share of 22.1 per cent in total road accident, 11.3 per cent in total persons killed and 16.4 per cent in total persons injured in road mishaps. Thirteen Indian states accounted for 87.2 per cent of road accidents – Tamil Nadu occupied the top slot with 79.746 persons injured in road accidents, besides the list included Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal, a Union government’s latest study report said.
The report said, since two-wheelers accounted for 72 per cent of the total automobiles in India, more than half of the fatalities in road accidents involved two-wheeler riders. Besides, two-wheelers accounted for the highest – about one-third share of the total 5 lakh road accidents in 2015. While 33 per cent of people killed in road crashes belonged to 15 to 24 years age bracket, over 82 per cent of the victims were males. Next was the share of the groups of cars, jeeps and taxis causing 77,116 accidents and 25,199 deaths. While 28.4 per cent accidents occurred on National Highways, 24 per cent took place on State Highways and 47.6 per cent on other roads, last year.
National Highways accounted for a share of 35 per cent in total number of persons killed and 29 per cent in total number of persons injured. Driver’s fault has been revealed as the single most responsible factor for road accidents killing and injuring on all roads for a long time – driver’s fault accounted for 77 per cent of total accidents. Within the category of driver’s fault, road accidents caused and persons killed due to exceeding lawful speed/over-speeding by drivers accounted for a share of 62.2 per cent accidents and 61 per cent deaths. Accidents and deaths caused due to ‘intake of alcohol and drugs’ in the same category, accounted for 4.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively. The total number of hit and run cases stood at 57.083, which is 11.4 per cent of the total number of road accidents, and around 20.709 persons were killed in such cases. Month-wise, highest number of accidents occurred in May followed by March, according to the ‘Road Accidents in India’ report of 2015 released by Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry, recently.
The alarming rate of road accidents in the country has prompted the Union government to make concerted efforts and garner resources needed, not only to prevent road accidents and traffic violations, but to also create an exemplary safe-road environment for all kinds of road users. The government, while trying to incorporate certain best practices to discipline drivers such as linking registration and licence validity with offences and insurance, is also planning a sustained public awareness campaign in the matter – PM Narendra Modi himself has made an appeal to the people on the issue, in recent radio addresses, Mann ki Baat.
Since November last year, the government has initiated preparation of a national action plan aimed at halving the number of deaths in road accidents within five years, as part of which it has been collaborating with the International Road Federation (IRF), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank to improve engineering designs of roads to make them safer, besides enhancing trauma care, among other measures. The plan will specifically include safety norms and improving road designs as maximum number of accidents are caused due to bad road designs. According to the government, road deaths lead to an economic loss of 2 to 3 per cent of the GDP, apart from the social misery.
Road Transport and Highways Ministry in April this year, following consultation with transport departments of various states, has proposed suspension or cancellation of driving licence for major offences which can be potential threats to other road users, besides putting complete end to the menace of driving by juveniles. The State Transport departments have favoured holding vehicle owners responsible for crashes involving juvenile drivers, and also advocated for stiffer penalties for violations such as drunk and rash driving, over-speeding, not using helmet and use of mobile phone while driving.
Driving under influence of alcohol is said to be the worst menace facing India, of late. Rising number of drunk driving fatal and near-miss accidents in the country has led to persistent public uproar calling for timely and stringent punishment against drunk drivers. Legal experts have been demanding that IPC Sections 304A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts up to 10 years in jail punishment) and 279 (rash and negligent driving) should be amended to include a specific offence of drunk driving. The government is now considering amendments to the law to make driving under influence of alcohol and drugs, a stringent offence.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
