Road Safety in India

• The Supreme Court has directed all States and UTs to formulate comprehensive road safety rules within six months.

Road Accidents in India: Statistics

• In 2023, India recorded 4.64 lakh road accidents, resulting in 1.73 lakh deaths and over 4.47 lakh injuries, with fatalities up 1.6% from 2022.
• Highway Fatalities: National highways, though only 2% of roads, accounted for 34.6% of deaths (60,127), followed by state highways at 23.4% (40,611). Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra reported the highest highway deaths.
• Major Causes:
  • Overspeeding: 58.6% of deaths.
  • Reckless driving and dangerous overtaking: 23.6%.
  • Other factors (poor weather, drunk driving, animals on road): 2.8%.

Causes of Road Accidents

• Human Factors: Responsible for nearly 85% of all accidents due to over-speeding, drunken driving, mobile phone distraction, and driver fatigue.
• Vehicular Factors: Poor vehicle maintenance, lack of safety features, overloading, and low compliance with safety gear — only about 30% of riders consistently wear helmets.
• Road Infrastructure: The presence of potholes, sharp curves, inadequate signage, poor lighting, and unscientific speed limits contributes significantly to accidents.
• Enforcement Gaps: Irregular traffic policing, weak law enforcement, and corruption reduce deterrence, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
• Post-Accident Response: Delay in emergency medical aid, with nearly 50% of deaths occurring within the “Golden Hour,” and inadequate trauma care facilities along highways worsen outcomes.

Impacts of Road Accidents

• Impact on Economy: Road crashes impose a significant economic burden, accounting for approximately 3% of India’s annual GDP.
• Strain on Public Resources: This includes the costs associated with emergency services (police, fire, and ambulance), healthcare, and the legal and administrative expenses of investigating accidents and processing insurance claims.
• Loss of life: In India, a traffic accident claims the life of one person every three and a half minutes.
• Disproportionate Impact on Poor: A World Bank report highlighted that in India, more than 75% of poor households reported a decline in income following a road crash. The financial loss for these families was equivalent to more than seven months of their household income.
• Increased Debt: To cover medical expenses and compensate for lost income, many families are forced to take loans, often from informal sources with high-interest rates, trapping them in a vicious cycle of debt.

Road Safety Initiatives in India

• National Road Safety Policy India, 2010: It emphasised the need for better road infrastructure, stricter traffic rule enforcement, enhanced emergency medical services, public awareness campaigns, and improved post-crash care.
• Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety: Established in 2014 to address the issue and guide and monitor all states and UTs to bring down crash fatalities in the country.
• Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019: The Act introduced higher penalties for traffic violations, including speeding, drunk driving, and not wearing helmets or seat belts, and imposed stricter penalties for offences by juveniles.
• Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD): Technology-driven system to collect and analyse accident data for evidence-based policymaking.
• Road Safety Audits (RSA): All National Highways (NHs) are mandated to have safety audits through third-party auditors/ experts at all stages, i.e., design, construction, operation, and maintenance.
• Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR): The e-DAR project has been initiated to establish a central repository for reporting, managing, and analysing road accident data nationwide.
• Good Samaritan Law: It protects Good Samaritans from harassment in their actions to save the life of road accident victims.
• Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety, 2015: Under it, the countries plan to achieve SDG 3.6, i.e. to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030. India signed it in 2015.
• Awareness and Education: Annual National Road Safety Month, inclusion of road safety in school curricula, and campaigns like Sadak Suraksha, Jeevan Raksha to promote behavioural change.

Supreme Court Direction on Road Safety

• Framing of Rules: States and UTs must include provisions on helmet enforcement, pedestrian crossings, wrong-lane driving, unsafe overtaking, and LED headlight.
• Helmet Enforcement: Authorities will ensure compliance for both riders and pillion passengers through e-enforcement systems, including camera surveillance and digital challans.
• Pedestrian Safety: Safe crossings, shaded waiting zones, tactile paving, and adherence to Indian Roads Congress (IRC) standards at bus terminals, metro, and railway stations.
• Accountability: Under Section 198A of the MV Act, officials and contractors can be personally liable for pedestrian deaths caused by poor road design or maintenance.
• LED Headlights & Hooters: The court directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and State authorities to define maximum luminance and beam angles.
  • Also directed to ban unauthorised red-blue strobe lights and hooters completely.

Way Forward

• Investing in Safer Infrastructure: The “Safe Systems” approach, which acknowledges human fallibility and aims to create a road system that is forgiving of errors, should be the guiding principle for all new road construction and upgrades.
• Behavioural Interventions: Promote respect for traffic rules through awareness campaigns by engaging NGOs and communities in road safety education.
• Strengthen Enforcement: Ensure uniform and technology-driven enforcement using tools like speed cameras, AI-based monitoring, and automated challan systems to curb overspeeding and traffic violations.
• Raise Awareness: More efforts are needed to promote awareness about road safety, the implications of road accidents, and what needs to be done to reduce the increasing number of road accidents.

“India’s rising road accidents demand urgent action across the four Es: engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency care. Strengthening these pillars can reduce fatalities, protect livelihoods, and build a safer transport ecosystem.”

Reference: The Hindu

PMF IAS Pathfinder for Mains – Question 369

Q. Despite significant expansion in transport infrastructure, India continues to record one of the highest road fatality rates globally. Analyse the key causes of poor road safety and propose effective measures to reduce accidents. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

Approach

• Introduction: Write a brief introduction by mentioning the current data and facts.
• Body: Analyse the key causes of poor road safety & propose effective measures to reduce road accidents.
• Conclusion: Write a comprehensive conclusion by mentioning the way forward.