Road Safety: Life is Precious, each and every effort matters!

Head injuries are a major cause of death, injury and disability among users of motorized two-wheeler vehicles. A huge number of bikers do not wear a helmet and among those who wear one, a lot of the helmets are of poor quality. Many of these head injuries could have been prevented or their severity could have been reduced through the use of good quality and inexpensive helmets, writes Rinki Sharma, Projects Head, Consumer Voice.

Hyderabad: Road safety continues to be a major issue, a public health concern and a leading cause of death and injury across the world, killing more than 1.35 million globally and in India, around 1.5 lakh persons die on road every year, more than 400 people are dying each day. In India, road crash fatalities account for approximately 11 per cent of the estimated 1.35 million global toll each year, as per estimates of World Health Organisation (WHO).

While inaugurating National Road Safety Month (January 18-February 17), the Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME, Shri Nitin Gadkari emphasised the need to expedite the task of saving the lives of people while stating that 415 people die on roads in India every day. The Road Safety Month which was launched by the Union Minister for Defence, Rajnath Singh along with Shri Nitin Gadkari also had the august presence of Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Gen (Retd) VK Singh and CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant.

Hon’ble Minister, Mr Gadkari also stressed that if "we keep waiting till 2030, then at least 6-7 lakh people will die more due to road accidents. Before 2025 the country will be able to reduce the deaths and accidents by 50 per cent."

As per the Road Accident Report for 2019, 4,49,002 accidents took place in the country during 2019, leading to 1,51,113 deaths and 4,51,361 injuries.

The working-age group of 18-60 accounted for 84 per cent in the total road accident deaths. Vulnerable road users, primarily pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheelers, account for almost 54 per cent of all fatalities and serious injuries.

Shri Ashim Sanyal, COO, Consumer VOICE, a civil society organisation working in road safety for many years and part of the Road Safety Network, stated that "Road Safety is the collective responsibility of the government and citizens and with death every four-minute, each and every step whether big or small matters. Each and every life is precious.

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Various Risk Factors

Helmet

Non-wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders caused 44,666 deaths and accounted for 29.82 per cent of total road accident deaths in the country during 2019 which included the death of 30,148 two-wheeler drivers as per ministry data.

Head injuries are a major cause of death, injury and disability among users of motorized two-wheeler vehicles. A huge number of bikers do not wear a helmet and among those who wear one, a lot of the helmets are of poor quality. Many of these head injuries could have been prevented or their severity could have been reduced through the use of good quality and inexpensive helmets.

Over Speeding

Over speeding is the main traffic violation in the 50 million-plus cities and accounts for 53,366 (64.5%) of the road accidents. Over speeding is the cause for an average of 71.6% of all road accidents on national highways, as per Central report.

Road accidents involving drivers without a valid driving license increased from 37,585 in 2018 to 44,358 in 2019.

Seatbelts

Seatbelts are another safety device which is mandatory for both the driver and the persons in vehicles other than two-wheelers and three-wheelers. In fact, the protection afforded by airbags now mandated in cars is rendered ineffective if seat belts are not worn. In 2019, non-wearing of seat belts was found to be associated with 20,885 deaths and accounted for 13.82 per cent of total road accident deaths in the country during 2019 involving 9,562 drivers and 11,323 passengers

Drunk Driving

Wrong-side driving on roads claimed has 9,200 lives in 2019 with more than one-fourth of such fatalities (2,726) occurring on the National Highways. This was followed by driving under the influence of alcohol. A total of 2,376 persons were killed in drunk driving cases on NHs in 2019.

Use of Mobile Phones

Using mobile phones can cause drivers to take their eyes off the road, their hands off the steering wheel, and their minds off the road and the surrounding situation. Using mobile phones can cause drivers to take their eyes off the road, their hands off the steering wheel, and their minds off the road and the surrounding situation.

Drunken driving or consumption of alcohol & drugs, jumping of red light and the use of mobile phones taken together accounted for 6.0 per cent of total accidents and 8.0 per cent of total deaths.

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Do's and Don't while on Road :

• Always put pedestrian and Children first.
• Ensure all lamps in working conditions.
• Hazard lamp should be switched off while parking on the highway.
• Reflectors should be used on the rear of the vehicle
• There should not be any compromise on the quality of brakes and tyres.
• Obey traffic rules.
• Drivers must rest well.
• Always wear seat belts.
• Don't rush and take safe routes.
• Don't drive in fog, avoid driving in such critical weather conditions.
• Always read caution signs as they are going to guide you about road design and accordingly the speed of the vehicle can be adjusted.