By Dr Prashant Thapliyal
Frequent road accidents causing huge loss of human lives are leaving permanent scars in the survivors and it has become the norm of the day. Despite so many sensitisation drives and punitive actions being taken against the rule breakers, road accidents have increased at a menacing pace. According to the road accident data present in the State Transport Department official website in the year 2005, out of 4,39,255 accidents in India, the fatality percentage was 21.6%. However, in Uttarakhand, during the same period for the 1332 accidents, fatality percentage was 65.2%. In year 2022, fatality percentage rose to 36.52 in India for the total of 4,61,312 accidents. However, in Uttarakhand the same year, it was 62.24%. Out of 1691 accidents in Uttarakhand in 2023, the fatality percentage was 62.33%. The data reflect a grim picture of the road safety management in India, on the whole, and Uttarakhand, in particular. In the year 2023, in India, 4.80 lakh road accidents took place causing 1.72 lakh fatalities. India tops in road accidents fatalities till date and ranks among the five worst countries to drive on roads globally. As many as 11% of the world’s accidents take place in India. More than 450 Indians lose their lives every day in road accidents. Moreover, maximum numbers of victims fall in the age group of 15 to 29, which is incidentally the most productive population on all counts.
Amongst the prominent causes of road accidents in India include infrastructural flaws such as substandard engineering, poor quality projects, flagrant systemic corruption, absence of sign boards or the presence of confusing sign boards, large number of black spots and lackadaisical approach by the responsible officials on repairing them promptly. Moreover, the trend of not fixing responsibility in the chain of command gives the officials concerned a universal impunity.
More than the infrastructural deficiencies, the lack of traffic sense and awareness of traffic rules is the major concern these days. Victor Blaho, a French You Tuber travelled India recently, and was aghast to witness reckless driving and honking on Indian roads. Unnecessary honking is the cause of aggravating stress problems and is the major cause of road rage incidents, especially in summers. Mukhtar Mohsin, the erstwhile Traffic Director of Uttarakhand, shared an incident in Bali with the author about how a cab driver felt ashamed and was apologetic for accidentally blowing the horn. On Indian roads, lack of sensitivity towards others, lack of education and sometimes selfishness is the cause of reckless dangerous driving and perennial honking. In order to sensitise the masses to this menace, one day in a week may be observed as a ‘No Honking Day’.
The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, Anand Bardhan, showed his concern in this regard in an official meeting recently and gave directions to sensitise youth towards awareness and obedience of traffic rules. The need of the hour is modernisation of the driving licensing process. With the burgeoning number of highspeed vehicles and expressways in India, issuing driving licences should be made more stringent. Applicants should be tested on roads, in congested areas, in traffic jams, night driving, highway merging and emergency response before issuing the driving licence. Administrative alertness in this regard will play an important role and help mitigate road accidents in the future. We should learn from the western countries in this area, who give utmost priority to the safety and security of their citizens. In Germany, compulsory classroom instructions are given to the applicants, they are trained on simulators through virtual learning and their responses are recorded before deeming them fit to drive on the roads. Installation of automated driving test tracks with bare minimum human intervention is the need of the hour. The sensors of the test tracks will monitor the responses of the applicants and will help endorse suitability of driving on the roads in an unbiased way. Licensing should be linked with Aadhar biometrics and forgery in this regard should be made a punishable offence.
As far as Uttarakhand is concerned, congested roads, record increase in number of vehicles, lack of civic and traffic sense, recklessness, etc., are responsible for majority of the accidents. Involvement of mostly youngsters in road mishaps makes it important to focus on education, sensitisation and enforcement. Uttarakhand Governments’ plan to include Road Safety in the school curriculum is a welcome move in this regard. Instilling the idea of road safety at a tender age will reap fruits in the end. Students should be given projects on road safety and work periodically as volunteers with the administration (District administration, Police, and Transport Department) to learn the nitty gritty of real time traffic situations, assisting the system and giving valuable suggestions. This will help sensitise the grown-ups with the children’s assistance. Levying hefty fines and stringent punishments will prove a major deterrent for others. With the concerted efforts of one and all, masses in general will understand the importance of road safety one day and this will save parents losing their children and children from becoming orphans which gives a jittery feeling at the thought itself.
(Dr Prashant Thapliyal is an Academician.)
