http://www.businessline.in/cgi-bin/print.pl?file=2010010550370900.ht...

Date:05/01/2010 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/01/05/stories /2010010550370900.htm Back Drive towards safer roads

Debashish Sengupta India received another dubious distinction when the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety' that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China. According to WHO, road fatalities will become the fifth largest killer by 2030. Maximum deaths due to road accidents happen in developing, low- and middle-income countries (almost 90 per cent). Scary figures In India, the statistics are scary: at least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country, according to latest report of National Crime Records Bureau; in 2007, 1.14 lakh people died in road mishaps, compared to 89,455 deaths in China in 2006; road mishap deaths registered a sharp rise of 6.1 per cent in India between 2006 and 2007; ; biggest victims of road mishaps are occupants of trucks and lorries followed by two-wheelers; and the States leading in terms of death due to road mishaps are Andhra Pradesh (12 per cent) followed by Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh (11 per cent each). The main contributing factors for this alarming rate are speeding, drunken-driving, low use of helmets/seat-belts, etc. Life is precious and loss of the same due to road accidents is almost criminal considering that most of these deaths can be avoided. Countries such as the UK have drastically brought down number of deaths due to road accidents with only 3,298 deaths reported in 2006. A two-pronged strategy seems a feasible option for ensuring safer roads in our country. Random enforcement can work wonders in terms of reducing incidents of negligent and drunken driving. In the UK, for instance, random testing has reduced alcohol-involved fatal crashes of drivers of large trucks. Injury and death resulting from crashes makes trucking one of the riskiest jobs in the US. However, although the number of trucks on the road has increased during the past two decades, the contribution of trucks to the total toll of motor vehicle-related death and injury has declined.
1 of 2

6/19/2010 11:05 AM

http://www.businessline.in/cgi-bin/print.pl?file=2010010550370900.ht...

Compulsory Training The two major stakeholders in ensuring safer roads are the drivers and traffic police. Many a times the lack of proper training appears to be the reason for errors, which could be fatal in many cases. Compulsory and stringent training practices are required at all levels. Traffic and Road Safety Institute' in Bangalore has taken up a unique training initiative. The trainees are traffic police across rank and file, right from the ACP to the constable. Trainees also include erring drivers of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The trainees are imparted basic knowledge of signals, road markings and new technology, such as how to handle Blackberry devices. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki runs the Institute of Driving, Training and Research (IDTRs) and Maruti Driving School (MDS) as a part of its corporate social responsibility. Private initiatives and public-private partnerships will be required to elevate the level of road safety training. And this must be supported by strong enforcement, swooping in hard on offenders. Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line

2 of 2

6/19/2010 11:05 AM