Unacceptable and preventable

Road accidents must be prevented

The latest report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has once again turned the spotlight on road safety. “Road Accidents in India 2022” addressed the issue of road-safety lapses and accidents — a stark reality that warrants immediate attention. Unfortunately, accidents continue to increase, with the year 2022 witnessing over 461,312 mishaps, resulting in 168,491 fatalities — an all-time high. Relative to 2021, the data shows a year-on-year increase of 11.9 per cent in accidents and 9.4 per cent in loss of lives. These figures translate, on average, into 53 accidents and 19 deaths per hour. This does not augur well for the country. Loss of lives is not only a human tragedy, which must be stopped, but also affects potential output because of a large number of people dying in their prime. Adults in the age group of 18 to 45 years made up 66.5 per cent of the victims in 2022, while those aged 18 to 60 years (working population) comprised 83.4 per cent of the overall fatalities.

The report suggests that “hit from the back” and “head-on collision” were the two leading types of road accidents in 2022. Low fluctuations in the number of road accidents in recent years and an increase in the number of fatal accidents are a disquieting trend. What is surprising is that such incidents continue to happen despite massive investments in road infrastructure over the past few years. As a result of expansion, the country not only has the second-largest road network in the world, behind only the US, but also has one of the highest road densities. Grandiose roadway projects are underway, yet they are not safe for motorists and pedestrians alike. The report attributes road accidents to causes like lack of lane discipline, speeding, drunken driving, not using safety devices like helmets, and weather and road conditions, among others. The carelessness of pedestrians, jaywalking, and crossing roads at wrong places add to the severity of the problem. In October 2021, the government announced rules to improve road safety, such as fixed driving-hours for commercial truck drivers and a mandate to install sleep-detection sensors in commercial vehicles. But such measures don’t seem to be helping in a big way.

Traffic laws in India are stricter than in many other countries but suffer from poor enforcement. The Motor Vehicles Act of 2019, for instance, increased the fine for speeding from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000, along with imprisonment of up to one year. But it hasn’t really done a lot to deter people. Tighter enforcement requires deploying more traffic-police personnel and installing speed-detection sensors in places prone to road accidents. India already has a paucity of traffic police, with a significant proportion of sanctioned positions lying vacant. Adaptive traffic lighting, walkways and underpasses for pedestrians, stricter tests for obtaining the driver’s licence, using traffic-calming measures, and emergency response teams can help reduce the toll of road accidents and deaths. Some of these remedies are well known but are not properly implemented. Running continued mass-awareness campaigns among motorists and better use of technology for detecting violations can also go a long way in preventing road accidents.