The driver is a well-known actor. He was convicted of culpable homicide. But he has been granted bail while on appeal. There is a lot of money riding on him. He can afford the best lawyers. So there have been many accusations, probably justified, about privilege obstructing justice.
Unfortunately, the hullaballoo about privilege has obscured three things that should be of concern. One is that cases arising from accidents drag on for insane lengths of time - 2002-2015 and counting, in this instance. Two is that India is a world leader in road accidents. Three is the lack of apparent concern about one and two.
In 2013, the last year for which complete data exist, as many as 137,572 persons were killed and 494,893 injured in traffic accidents. Over 2002-2013, that is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4.5 per cent for fatalities and about 2.2 per cent for fatalities plus injuries. The World Health Organization claims road accidents are the 10th highest cause of deaths in India.
The ministry says the single largest cause of fatal accidents was speeding (43 per cent in 2013). Other major causes included overloading (21 per cent), intoxication (4.6 per cent) and load-protrusion (seven per cent). I assume the ministry has a method for assigning causes, when, for example, an intoxicated driver kills somebody while speeding in an overloaded vehicle.
Driver error accounted for 78 per cent of accidents. Mechanical defects accounted for under two per cent. About nine per cent of victims were pedestrians, while two-wheelers (28.5 per cent) and cyclists (3.5 per cent) were also vulnerable. As many as 93 per cent of victims were under 65, with about 86 per cent between 15 and 65.
The economic loss is substantial. One estimate by a former secretary of the ministry is that about three per cent of a year's gross domestic product (GDP) is lost to traffic accidents. That is 10 times the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Budget, twice as much as the current account deficit and more than half of direct tax revenues.
Road safety is not "sexy". It is an unglamorous subject. Successive administrations have done little to promote it beyond putting up a few, somewhat risible slogans. However, given how the numbers stack up, every state and the Centre should be running continuous high-decibel, high-profile road safety campaigns. That actor should be told to serve his sentence by doing documentaries.
Speeding, overloading, load protrusion - most accidents are caused, not by mere human error, but by the wilful flouting of laws. In fact, the Indian driving experience is all about flouting laws. Getting a licence in itself has nothing to do with knowing how to drive. A small bribe is enough to get off the hook as and when somebody is caught committing a violation. In the "semi-worst-case", a fatal accident may take more than a decade going to trial. In the worst case scenario, the driver will himself be dead, so why worry about it?
This casual mindset with its assumption of all-pervasive corruption must change. Fast punishment, large fines, jail sentences and vehicle confiscations might make drivers more safety-conscious. But strict law enforcement would have to go hand in hand with reviews of licensing processes and traffic policing systems to reduce the scope of bribery. Insurers should also have the leeway to hike vehicle premiums for offenders.
Technology can enable such reforms. More speed cameras can be deployed. Traffic police could be issued wearable video cameras to keep them honest. Licence tests may be videotaped. Promoting road safety could make a massive difference to India's traffic culture (if one may use "culture" very loosely). This is relatively low-hanging fruit in terms of reform, and yet it could generate huge returns.
Twitter: @devangshudatta