Road Accidents in India

Road Accidents in India

News: Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a Report titled- ‘Road Accidents in India-2022'.

What is the report preparation methodology?
• The report is based on the data/information received from police departments of States/UTs on calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project.

Key Highlights of the report

Which factors contribute to increase in Road accidents?
• Over speeding is the major cause and it accounts for 71.2 percent of the persons killed in 2022.
• Driving on the wrong side is the second reason accounting for 5.4 per cent deaths.
• Crash tests carried out by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) in 2014 revealed that some of India’s top-selling car models failed the UN (United Nations)’s frontal impact crash test.
• sIncorrect road engineering leading to black spots, poor designing of junctions and haphazard plans of city/state highways are other major factors that contribute to road accidents.
• Low awareness regarding the importance of safety features like airbags, Anti-lock Braking system, safety belt usage.

What are the impact of road accidents on India?
• According to a World Bank report, Indian economy loses 3 to 5 percent of its GDP each year due to road accidents.
• Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) like the male urban poors, account for more than half of all road crash deaths and serious injuries in the country.
• Gendered impact of road accidents as it is women who are severely affected post death of male counterparts.

What initiatives have been taken in India to reduce road accidents?
• Passage of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019- GOI has tried to enhance the road safety measures through this act.
o The Act hikes the penalties for traffic violations, defective vehicles, juvenile driving.
o It provides for a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, which would provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents.
o Creating a National Road Safety Board to advise the government on traffic management.
o Protection of Good Samaritans from civil and criminal liability.
• Technical initiatives - Front and side crash tests for new car models, New cars are required to have airbags fitted as standard, Installation of Roadside Safety Crash barriers and speed warning boards etc.
• National Road safety Policy (2010)
• Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety (2015) - India is a signatory to the Declaration.
• Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 - The UN General Assembly adopted resolution 'Improving global road safety ' with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

Way Forward
• Indian Vehicles safety features must conform to global best standards
• There should be separation of lanes for 2-Wheelers and heavy vehicles
• Proactive approach for road safety instead of reactive