Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently released “The Road Accidents in India report”for 2017.
What does the report say?
A total of 4.64 lakh road accidents took place in 2017, of which 1.34 lakh were fatal accidents.
The number of people who died in these mishaps stood at 1.47 lakh.
The number of road accidents and fatalities in 2017 came down by 3.3% and 1.9%, respectively, from the previous year.
The number of road accidents and injuries has declined in 2017 for the second consecutive year.
Location - National highways accounted for 30.4% of accidents and 36% of fatalities while state highways accounted for 25% of the accidents and 26.9% of the deaths.
Nearly 45% of mishaps and 37% of deaths took place on other roads.
Type of Vehicle - Two-wheelers were involved in 33.9% of the total mishaps and almost 30% of the fatalities.
Light motor vehicles like cars and jeeps involved in 24.5% of the accidents and 21.1% of the fatalities.
Pedestrians amounted to 13.5% of the total fatalities, a rise of 3%from 2016.
What are the concerns?
The report has failed to signal the quantum shift necessary to reduce death and disability on the roads.
The remedies it highlights are weak, incremental and unlikely to bring about a transformation.
Responsibility - Although enforcement of rules is a State issue, the Centre promises that it will work with the States to improve safety as a joint responsibility.
But nothing much has changed in the ground which is reflected by the death of 1,47,913 people in accidents in 2017.
Rate - The government claimed a 1.9% reduction in the number of accidents over the previous year but the data on the rate of people who die per 100 accidents show no decline.
Also, green commuters (cyclists/pedestrians) now face greater danger on India’s roads, with a rise in fatalities for these categories of users.
Estimation - The Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme at IIT Delhi estimates that road traffic injuries recorded by the police are underestimated by a factor of 20, and those that need hospitalisation by a factor of four.
By that measure, the number of people who suffered injuries in 2017 could far exceed the numbers reported by the Ministry.
Focus - Greater attention is being paid to the design and safety standards of vehicles in recent times.
But such professionalism should extend to public infrastructure in the design of roads, their quality and maintenance, and the safety of public transport, among others.
Implementation - Though the Supreme Court has been issuing periodic directions in a public interest petition with the assistance of the Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan Committee constituted by the Centre, there is a lack of progress in reducing traffic injuries.
The Centre has watered down the national bus body standards code in spite of a commitment given to the Supreme Court, by requiring only self-certification by the builders.
Relaxing this long-delayed safety feature endangers thousands of passengers.
Institutions - The Road Safety Councils at the all-India and State levels have simply not been able to change the dismal record.
The police forces too lack the training and motivation for professional enforcement.
Hence there is an urgent need to fix accountability in the government.
