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Posted by admin on 2024-09-04 |

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Road crashes aren’t just tragic—they’re the leading cause of unintentional deaths in India, making up a 43% of such fatalities. And it's not just a statistic—it's a harsh reality that affects countless lives every day. India's road safety situation is a ticking time bomb.

Unintentional Injuries: A Deep Dive

The Ministry of Health’s recent report, launched during the ‘Safety 2024’ World Conference, paints a grim picture. In 2022 alone, India saw 4,30,504 deaths from unintentional injuries. Over-speeding tops the list of causes, responsible for a staggering 75.2% of road fatalities. Other contributors? Driving on the wrong side (5.8%), and driving under the influence (2.5%).

But the problem doesn’t stop there. Drowning, falls, poisoning, and burns also claim thousands of lives each year. And despite ongoing efforts to improve road safety, the mortality ratio remains disturbingly high, especially in rural areas, where 67.8% of road traffic incident (RTI) deaths occur.

The Stark Reality of Road Traffic Crashes

National highways, which make up just 2.1% of India’s total road length, are the deadliest. They accounted for 45 deaths per 100 km in 2022. What’s worse? The human cost of these crashes isn't just limited to loss of life. They also set back India’s GDP by 3.14%, costing the economy about ?5 lakh crore annually.

So, what’s being done to bend this curve? Nitin Gadkari, India's road transport minister, has been vocal about the issue, pointing out flaws in how roads are designed and constructed. Many road projects are based on subpar reports—Gadkari even criticized some as being ‘made on Google.’ To turn the tide, there’s talk of auditing these reports, tightening tender norms, and regularly monitoring road safety during construction.

The Motor Vehicles Act has introduced tougher norms for violators, and there are ideas floating around about changing tendering norms and subjecting Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) to audits. Driver behavior, however, is still the elephant in the room.

A Call to Action: Building Safer Roads

It's clear that India’s road safety crisis is a collective responsibility. Government agencies, the private sector, civil society, and individuals must all play a part. The Ministry of Health’s report emphasizes that bending the curve on road crashes requires focusing on road design and construction, driver behavior, and accident response.

Etienne Krug from the WHO highlights the need for continued action to prevent road traffic deaths. He stresses that while progress has been made in building evidence on what works to prevent these deaths, much more action is needed. The 'Safety 2024' conference aims to build on this momentum by sharing knowledge and experiences to save lives.

Jagnoor Jagnoor, head of the Injury Programme at the George Institute of Global Health, advocates for a shift from just changing human behavior to adopting a comprehensive safe systems approach. This includes safer roads and vehicles, with a strong emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable road users—pedestrians, motorized two-wheeler riders, and cyclists.

The Road Ahead: Collective Responsibility

Road safety isn’t just a government problem; it's everyone's problem. Local road transport authorities need to be more rigorous in issuing licenses, and police need to step up enforcement efforts. It’s time to ditch the 'We are like this only' attitude.

In the end, making our roads safer will take a shared commitment from all stakeholders. Whether it’s better road design, stricter enforcement of traffic laws, or simply being more aware of the dangers on the road, we all have a role to play. Let’s make our roads far safer than they are today.