Road Accidents in India

insightsonindia.com/2022/09/06/road-accidents-in-india/

Insights Editor September 6, 2022

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Infrastructure: Road

Source: The Hindu,

Context: The recent unfortunate death of Cyrus Mistry (former chairman of Tata Sons)
has put a spotlight on Road accidents in India

Status (as per the latest NCRB data)

Deaths in road accidents up by 17%

In 2021, 1.55 lakh people died in accidents on Indian roads, up from
1.33 lakh in 2020
A maximum number of cases were reported in Tamil Nadu.
Reasons: Speeding accounted for over half of all deaths, while
dangerous and careless driving caused over 42000 deaths.

Mechanisms to prevent death in a car accident?

The three-point seat belt is a low-cost restraint system that prevents

occupants of a vehicle from being thrown forward in a crash.
Seat belt: slows the occupant at the same rate as the vehicle,
distributing the physical force in a crash across the stronger parts
of the body such as the pelvis and chest.
The Road Transport Ministry said that during 2017, a shocking
26,896 people lost their lives due to the non-use of seat belts with
16,876 of them being passengers.
Seat Belt+ Airbag: Even if the vehicle is fitted with an airbag, the force
at which an unrestrained occupant strikes the airbag can cause serious
injuries. So, the seatbelt works in tandem with the airbag.
air-bag deployment reduced mortality by 63% (IIT Delhi Study)
Head restraints, which are found either as adjustable models or
moulded into the seats, prevent a whiplash injury (sudden backwards
and forward movement of head-on collision)

Indian regulation:

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 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a draft notification
providing for three-point seat belts to be provided in all vehicles (up
to 8-seater vehicles)
The Amended Motor Vehicles Act of 2019 requires the occupants of a
passenger vehicle to wear a seat belt for driver and passenger or else
there’s a fine.
Evidently, although cars are equipped with seat belts, the
enforcement for rear seat occupants is virtually absent in India.

What should be done:  

Institute evidence-based, India-specific and effective road safety

policies
Better road design and maintenance of road and traffic infrastructure
Removal of medians on intercity highways and replacement with steel
guard rails or wire rope barriers
Awareness of the use of seat belts and installing airbags
Use of the European Union’s General Safety Regulation that requires
new vehicles to incorporate advanced emergency braking technology
that launches automatically when a collision is imminent.

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Insta Links

Editorial: Road Accidents

Mains Links

Link it with governance (GS2) as well as Infrastructure issues (GS3) 

Q. Road traffic accidents are a leading cause of death in India, and a major
contributor to socio-economic losses, disability burden, and hospitalization.
Discuss (15M)

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