Road Safety—Need of Hour

Expansion of transport network is a necessary prerequisite for growth, and urbanization. So, as India charts a path of growth, we see an increasing level of urbanization and concentration of population in cities. As expected, we also see a rapid expansion of the road network in the country with an overall increase in motorization. India today has one of the largest road networks in the world. Motor vehicle population has grown here at Compounded Annual Growth rate of 10.5% during the period 2003-13. While this growth is perfectly in order and also necessary for a surging economy, what raises a cause for concern is the fact that we have not equipped ourselves to deal with this increased pressure on road space. We have not brought in modern traffic management systems and practices including development of contemporary traffic rules and creating awareness regarding adherence to these rules. As a result, we have a very high number of road accidents in the country and safety in road travel has become a cause for concern and a major public health issue. 56 Road Accidents take place and 16 Persons killed every hour in the country.
To ensure a “safe system” in road travel, it is imperative to augment road infrastructure, develop the safety mechanism in vehicles, change the behaviour of drivers and road users, and improve the emergency and other post-crash services. These are the four Es in road safety, Education, Enfoncement, Engineering, Environment and Emergency care.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2009, in its first Global Status Report on Road Safety, identified road accidents as the “biggest killers” across the world. The report says about 1.2 million people die and 50 million get affected in road accidents globally every year. A decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) has been adopted with a goal to reduce the fatalities from road accidents by 50 percent.
The 27th Road safety week which was observed in January this year the Campaign focused on ‘Road Safety–Time for Action’. The Campaign for road safety can only be successful if all stakeholders such as transport, insurance, health, legal professionals, highway engineers and vehicle manufacturers are on board. Children and school and college going students should be taught from the beginning about the road user behaviour. Road safety education should be a part of the school curriculum so that safety becomes a habit and a way of life from the beginning.