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India leads world in road deaths

Accidents Kill 13 Indians Per Hour In Country

Dipak Kumar Dash | TNN

New Delhi: In a dubious distinction for the country, the World Health Organization has revealed in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety that morepeople die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world, includingthe more populous China.

Calling road fatalities an epidemic that will become the worlds fifth biggest killer by 2030, the report said while the rich nations had been able to lower their death rates, these were sharply on the rise in the third world. It said 90% of deaths on worlds roads occur in low and middle-income countries (21.5 and 19.5per lakh of population, respectively) though they have just 48% of all registered vehicles.

The statistics for India are chilling. At least 13 people die every hour toroad accidents in the country, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals. In 2007, 1.14 lakh people in India lost their lives in road mishaps thats significantly higher than the 2006 road death figures in China, 89,455.

Road deaths in India registered a sharp 6.1% rise between 2006 and 2007. However, road safety experts say that the real numbers could be higher since many of these accident cases are not even reported. There is no estimate of how many injured in road accidents die a few hours or days after the accident, points out Rohit Baluja, member of the UN Road Safety Collaboration and Commission of GlobalRoad Safety representing Asia.

The report, based on 2006 and 2007 statistics collected from 178 participating countries, said globally over 1.2 people die in road accidents every year and20-25 million people suffer non-fatal injuries.

Baluja said both central and state governments, while pushing for construction of more highways and roads, were doing precious little to make them safe. We d

ont have scientific traffic engineering which forms the basis of road safety improvement practiced in US and UK since 1930s. This still remains a matter of consultancy in India as we are yet to have our own traffic engineering wings, Baluja adds.

In fact, the report shows while only 3,298 people died in road accidents inUK in 2006, in case of US it was 42,642. Speed is the main reason behind road mishaps

New Delhi: India has once again taken the top spotbut on the wrong list. The World Health Organisations report says that India has the maximum number of accidental deaths in the World.

The report pointed to speeding, drinking-driving and low use of helmets, seat belts and child restraints in vehicles as the main contributing factors to deaths across the globe. In 2004, road

accidents was the top ninth cause of death.

Speed is the main reason behind accidents. An increase in average speed is directly related to both the likelihood of a crash occurring and to the severity of crash consequences. A 5% increase in average speed leads to an approximately 10% increase in crashes that cause injuries and a 20% increase in fatal crashes.

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Zones of 30 kmph can reduce crash risk and injury severity and are recommended in areas where vulnerable road users are particularly at risk, the report said.

Significantly, while it also highlighted that only 29% countries had managedto reduce traffic speed in urban areas and 10% have been effective in managingit, the report stated that traffic calming measures were lacking in areas with no traffic segregation.

This is one of the major worries in our case. The roles and responsibilitiesof agencies managing traffic is not defined, Baluja points out.

Meanwhile, a brief analysis of the NCRB report points to Andhra Pradesh having the highest share of deaths due to road accidents (12%) followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (11% each).

Interestingly, contrary to the popular view of trucks being a major killer on roads, the report shows these to be the biggest victims of mishaps 23,991 occupants of trucks and lorries lost their lives in 2007.

This was followed by occupants of two-wheelers. To put a check on the accident on roads, WHO suggests setting speed limits up to 50 kmph that reflect the function of individual roads, a drink-driving law and making helmet use mandatoryon motorised two and threewheelers, seat belts in both front and rear seats of all vehicles and enforcement of child restraint laws.