Road crashes are a pandemic to which about 1.35 million lives are lost every year. As per National Crime Records Bureau data, in 2021 alone 155,622 people were killed and 371,884 injured in 403,116 road crashes in India. Of these, over 60% fatalities occurred on national and state highways; 63% of all deaths occurred in the 18-45 age group. What makes our road safety picture particularly grim is the fact that not only does India hold the global road crash fatality top spot, it also has the highest global crash severity, at 38.6 deaths per 100 crashes in 2021. Last year’s figure is also the highest crash severity level logged in India during the last two decades.
Official records and forensic investigations of road crashes by SaveLIFE Foundation have helped identify some of the primary reasons behind our high toll. The most significant is over-speeding, which led to 87,050 fatalities in 2021. Close on its heels was dangerous or careless driving that led to 42,853 lives lost. Other major causal factors include driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, mechanical defects in vehicles, driver fatigue, lack of infrastructure and rear-end collisions involving vehicles parked illegally on the shoulder of a road, among others. Reasons for crashes must be bifurcated from the causes of subsequent injuries and deaths, with vehicular, behavioural and other risks analysed apart from issues of post-accident life saving.
With such gargantuan fatality numbers, targeted measures to ensure greater road safety for all types of users is the need of the hour. As India develops faster and better highways, we must deploy commensurate systems suited for high-speed corridors. Such highways require adequate crash barriers spaced uniformly for the safety of users in the event of an accident. Similarly, we need more road signs in the correct size and placed at apt intervals to convey speed limits (and their changes), leaving room for adequate time and space for road users to take note and act accordingly. Other infrastructural elements that need attention on high-speed stretches are the securing of exposed hard structures, closing of unauthorized gaps in the median, ensuring against poor road construction and maintenance, and making provisions for pedestrians and road safety at intersections and vulnerable zones.
To ensure that speed limits and other safety rules are adhered to, optimal and robust speed enforcement is extremely important. This can be ensured through active traffic-rule enforcement using both manual as well as electronic surveillance, including high-visibility and high-speed patrol vehicles, drones and speed tracking cameras, especially within and ahead of high-risk zones.
While these pre-emptive measures are essential for the prevention of road crashes, simultaneous action is necessary towards ensuring a rapid trauma response and emergency medical care system. The deployment of ambulances close to high-fatality zones, advanced ambulances that can support road crash victims in transit and a proper triage system that ensures minimal loss of time in referring patients to the specialized care they require are essential. The current Emergency Care system in India is archaic and needs a dramatic overhaul to reduce the loss of lives.
Speed management studies must also be undertaken to establish appropriate speed limits. These studies should factor in all elements associated with our highways, including the vehicular mix using them and their mode-wise speed limits, as well as design elements from a civil engineering perspective. Understanding the terrain of high-speed corridors as well as the areas they pass through, apart from all the connecting roads and bylanes, are essential in mapping the road user base of these stretches. This will help in gauging what limits as well as checks and balances need to be deployed where.
On the part of road users, the elements that require cognizance and mindfulness include the driver’s capacity to manoeuvre vehicles on high-speed stretches while adhering to set rules, such as the usage of front and rear seat belts (or helmets in case of two-wheelers), staying within speed limits and designated lanes, and never driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
For better vehicular safety, the immediate measures necessary include a vigorous permanent car safety assessment rating system, on the lines of the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme introduced by India’s ministry of road transport and highways through a draft notification on 24 June 2022. Six airbags in all passenger four-wheelers and a rear seat belt alarm system are measures that require standardization across the board for ensuring stable structures that provide adequate protection and lower the probability of life-threatening injuries and fatalities.
Industry opposition to those mandates are safety roadblocks that require a firm government stance, followed by laws and rules aimed at safer vehicles to help ensure a secure commute for every road user.
High-speed traffic corridors are essential to the overall development of a nation, so there is no arguing with these. However, working towards ensuring the safety of road users is of paramount importance towards guaranteeing that our highways and other streets function as intended and contribute to the economic growth of the country.
Piyush Tewari is the founder and chief executive officer of SaveLIFE Foundation, a non-profit organisation.
