Road Accidents in India and the Possible Solutions to This Problem

Road Accidents

Road accident is a collision of a vehicle with another or an individual or animal hinderance. It is the most heeded man-made disaster. One person dies every four minutes due to road accidents in India. A total of 4,64,910 road accidents have been recorded in our country in the year 2017, taking 1,47,913 lives and injured 4,70,975 people. The highest number of accidents are recorded in Tamil Nadu while the highest number of people are killed in Uttar Pradesh. According to the report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, by the World Health Organization, road accidents are the major cause of death by injury and is the eighth leading cause of death world-wide. Apart from loss of lives damage to infrastructure, socio-economic problems, safety crisis. Expansion of road networks, urbanization, technology development has made this side issue very intricated It is notice that deaths are thrice more in low income groups than in high income groups. This disaster is often the most neglected as it is encountered by an individual every day, diluting the intensity and necessity for serious policy formulation and implementation to avoid them.

Firstly, identifying the causes of accidents can be broadly for the following reasons-negligence, human errors, road condition, motor vehicle condition. Nevertheless, it is transparent and clear that the lack of awareness better termed recklessness is a very important concern. This is supported by issue of license without proper examination and corruption, improper control of young citizens who move in an insensible way, overload of vehicles, jumping red-lights, using old vehicles which are extremely hard to control. Over-speeding, drunk driving, driving on the wrong side are most important reasons which are most contributing and can be rectified with proper rules and regulations. Identification root cause for this disaster is half a solution.

Drunk driving contributes to 70% of the accidents in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, there are many ways to put a check on it by testing through BMC, but better execution is still a job. Driver fatigue is a dangerous problem as it can easily go out of the control. Road design can help prevent accidents by better planning, making it predictable and easier and construction of highways through bypass avoids exposure to the disaster. Proper vehicle condition has to be ensured to be able to control the vehicle during and the impact. Above all the given reasons, policies which existed till 2016 very not very well formulated to seal the possibilities of these disasters. In order to avoid disaster, we have to analyze the risk and exposure to the possibilities, vulnerability and the capacity of resilience Realizing the intensity of this problem, government created a National Road safety council in 1985.It followed a 4 ‘E’ strategy-Education-bringing better awareness and road discipline among people, Engineering-constructing a better environment including road design and vehicle design, Enforcement- tightened laws and its implementation, Emergency-availability of medical aid in the least time especially to make use of the “Golden Hour” which is very crucial for survival of the victim.

The UN declared 2011 - 2020 as the decade of Action for Road Safety. It aims to save 5 million lives by the end of the year 2020. One of the five focuses of the decade is on “safer roads'. Particularly in the year 2015, which witnessed the highest number of accidents till today, Government of India enforced Road safety policy which promoted road safety awareness, improved infrastructure etc. The Road Transport and safety Bill provided a provision for safer, quicker, passenger-friendly ways.

Identification of black spots was considered an important task by putting warning boards, caution for the passengers etc. Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways has set up Inspection and certification Centers to check on vehicles. Publicity about the horrifying reality of road accidents is seen on roads through hoarding, posters, advertisements on social media etc. Safety standards and penalties are revised and are made stricter regarding the helmets, seat belt, vehicle conditions, signal jumping and over speeding through proofs and photographs and electronics devices on roads to record them etc. Good Samaritans are encouraged and given SOP (standard operating procedures). Road safety audits and crash barriers especially in hilly areas are believed to reduce. Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 focuses on starting National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board to control over road safety concerns. Safer vehicles are being encouraged and better impact resistant, well-structured vehicles are proven to reduce the number of accidents by incorporating ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System), seat-belt reminder etc.

Post-disaster response can be contributed to extensively by the government, provision of immediate medical services to the victims is the utmost necessity. The amendment of Motor vehicle amendment Bill focuses on pedestrian safety by creating safe footpaths, non-motorized zones etc. As well as creating a centralized database of driving license which will be linked to Aadhar card to deal with fake license. Electronic monitoring is expected to be introduced which was already a success in Kerala which reduces the human effort and improves efficiency in the matter of traffic violation and over-speed. Children safety during the commute to schools and harsh penalties for safety violation are other important features of this amendment.

There is always a scope for development for a better regulation which is increasing road taxes to reduce the number of vehicles as the number of vehicles increased by more than 100% in last few decades. Public transport should be improved to avoid traffic congestion. Above all of this the sensitivity of the citizens to these important issues to achieve the necessary goals. In spite of innumerous ways adopted to prevent a disaster there is always possibility one. Development is the ability to be able to always provide with all the resources to avoid death after the disaster even in the most remote places and vulnerable situations.