Road Safety in India

• Context (IE): India recorded over 1.72 lakh road fatalities in 2023, highlighting the country’s global lead in road accident deaths.

Facts related to Road Accidents in India

• Total Road Crashes: 4.80 lakh (4.2% increase from 2022).
• Daily Average Figures: 1,317 crashes and 474 deaths daily; 55 crashes and 20 fatalities hourly.
• Uttar Pradesh had the highest fatalities, with 23,650 deaths from 44,000 accidents.
• Over-speeding: Accounted for 68.1% of fatalities in 2023.
• No Safety Gear: 54,000 deaths and 16,000 deaths due to not wearing helmets & seat belts, respectively.
• Driving Violations: Over 34,000 crashes by unlicensed driving & 12,000 deaths by overloading.
• Infrastructure Issues: Potholes, inadequate crossings & outdated vehicles with poor braking systems.

Causes of Road Accidents

• Lack of essential safety features like airbags in many budget-friendly cars in India.
• Overcrowding of roads with vehicles, pedestrians, and animals.
• Behavioural Issues: Lack of adherence to rules, over-speeding and reckless driving.
• Road Engineering: Potholes, black spots, and inadequate infrastructure.
• Enforcement Gaps: Weak implementation of traffic laws, especially at state and district levels.
• Vehicle Standards: Need for improved automobile engineering and technology.
• Awareness and Education: Insufficient awareness programs on road safety.

Impacts of Road Accidents

• Impact on the economy: Road crashes cost the Indian economy around 5-7% of its GDP annually.
• Loss of life: In India, a traffic accident claims the life of one person approx. every three and a half minutes.
• Disproportionate impact on the poor: The financial loss due to road accidents amounted to more than seven month’s of household income, while it was equivalent to less than one month’s household income for affluent households.
• Increased out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure: Under-coverage of health insurance facilities uplifts medical and non-medical expenditures, imposing severe financial burdens and pushing non-poor families into poverty and the already poor into extreme poverty and indebtedness.

Way Forward

• Improved Road Infrastructure: Address potholes and build more underpasses and foot-over bridges across state and district highways.
• Behavioural Interventions: Promote respect for traffic rules through awareness campaigns by engaging NGOs and communities in road safety education.
• Technology and Innovation: Integrate AI-based traffic management systems; Mandate advanced vehicle safety features (like airbags and ADAS).
• State-Level Cooperation: Active participation of state govts in addressing local road safety issues.
• 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.

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 (SCCoRS): 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): It is a central accident database management system that analyses the causes of road crashes and devises safety interventions to reduce them.
• National Road Safety Month/Week: Observed every year to spread awareness about road safety.
• 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.
• India State Support Programme for Road Safety by World Bank: The World Bank has approved a $250 million loan for seven States to set up a single accident reporting number.
• 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.
• Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030: The UN General Assembly adopted the “Improving global road safety” resolution to prevent at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
• Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) 2020-2025: It aims to reduce road crash fatalities and injuries in low and middle-income countries and cities by implementing a comprehensive set of proven life-saving actions.