Term Paper Project

On

Problems of road safety and traffic

management in India

Submitted by:

Akash Ranjan
B.A. (Hons.) Economics

Enrollment number: A40876815012

Amity University Greater Noida

 Preface
Road safety is a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional subject.
It includes orderly development and management of roads,
provision of safer vehicles, and a comprehensive response to
accidents. It relies on modern traffic management systems
and practices, improved safety standards in design,
construction, operation and maintenance of roads, and
production and maintenance of safer vehicles.

Owing to unsafe conditions on roads, the rate of accidents in

India has been high. According to WHO statistics for 2002, out
of about 11.8 lakh road accident deaths across the world,
84,674 deaths were reported from India alone. In the year
2004, the number of road accident deaths in India increased
to 92,618. A study undertaken by the Planning Commission in
2002 estimated the social cost of road accidents in India at
about 3 per cent of GDP. Considering the gravity of the
situation, there is consensus that concerted measures are
necessary for reducing this high level of accident deaths and
injuries through improved safety measures and traffic
management.

With a view to identifying the policies and interventions that

are necessary for promoting road safety, the Committee on
Infrastructure (CoI), chaired by the Prime Minister, directed
in its meeting held on January 13, 2005 that an Empowered
Committee of Secretaries under the chairmanship of Cabinet
Secretary would address the issues relating to creation of a
Directorate of Road Safety and Traffic Management. For
detailed deliberations on these issues and for making
recommendations to the Empowered Committee of Secretaries,
the Department of Road Transport and Highways constituted
a Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management
consisting of stakeholders and experts. After extensive
consultations, the Committee submitted its Report on Road
Safety and Traffic Management.

In particular, the aforesaid Report recommends a legal,

institutional and financial framework necessary for
furthering the cause of road safety in India. It suggests the
setting up of a National Road Safety Board to lay down
standards and guidelines, and to oversee and coordinate all
activities pertaining to road safety. Since the states have a
major role to play in promoting road safety, the Committee
has suggested a package of incentives to encourage the states
to adopt well designed programmes to reduce road accidents.
The Report includes a draft of the National Road Safety and
Traffic Management Bill.

The Department of Road Transport and Highways held

consultations with various stakeholders and State
Governments in order to ascertain their views and build
consensus on the recommendations contained in the aforesaid
Report. Thereafter, the Report was placed before the CoI in its
meeting held on December 5, 2007 when it was noted that the
Report would be considered by the Empowered Committee of
Secretaries, and based on its recommendations, the proposed
National Road Safety and Traffic Management Bill would be
placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries has since approved

the recommendations contained in the said Report and the
Department of Road Transport and Highways propose to seek
approval of the Cabinet for introduction of the National Road
Safety and Traffic Management Bill in the Parliament. It is
hoped that this effort would usher a new era of road safety in
India.
 Executive summery
In the last decade alone, India lost 1.3 million people to preventable road
crashes and another 5.3 million have been left disabled for life. India has
the highest number of road crash fatalities, with a crash occurring every
minute and one death every four minutes. While it has just 1% of the
world’s vehicles, India accounts for over 10% of global road crash fatalities
– the highest in the world. According to the ‘Road Accidents in India’, 2015
report released in June, 2016, by the Transport Research Wing (TRW) of
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), 1,46,133 people were
killed in road crashes in 2015 including 12,589 children. This number is not
only the highest that India has ever recorded in history, but it represents a
53.9% increase over the last decade, and nearly a ten-fold increase since
1970.

Not only does the loss or impairment of a breadwinner of a family inflict

emotional trauma on lakhs of families, it imposes a severe financial burden
by pushing entire households into poverty. In a 2014 report, the erstwhile
Planning Commission of India had estimated that the annual cost of road
crashes in India is 3% of its GDP. With India’s GDP in 2015-16 being INR
136 lakh crore, these figures translate into a monetary loss of INR 4.07 lakh
crore. Ironically, it is over five times the budget of the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways, the nodal agency for ensuring road safety in
India. This amount, if saved, can fund various schemes by the government
for several years.
 Introduction
An injury is well-defined as a ‘body graze at the organic level resulting from
severe disclosure to energy interacting with the body. The injuries, globally,
contributes about 10% of the total death and about 15-20% of the total
disabilities. Studies suggest that 15-18% of total deaths are in India.

The description of road accidents fatality differs from countries to countries

and is defined as “any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as
a result of an injury or accident”. According to the WHO, road traffic
incidents are the 6th leading cause of death in India. Road traffic incidents
also put a huge burden on the health sector of the country, in relation of
prehospital and acute care and rehabilitation. The paper tries to access the
burden and impact of road traffic incidents, classifies factors associated
with the incidence of road traffic incidents, examine current policies,
mechanism and interventions for prevention and to highlight the role of the
health sector in road safety in India

ROAD, MOTORIZATION AND TRANSPORTATION NETWORK

Understanding transportation needs, pattern and modes is important to
ensure the road safety in the country. The growth of the vehicles industry,
liberalized the economic policies of successive governments, aggressive
media, easy loans and increasing the purchasing power of the people and
poor public or communal transport in the country has contributed to the
increase of motorization and changing transportation state in India. The
total number of registered vehicles increased to 14 times from 5 million in
1980s to 72 million in 2004 (fig. 1). The number of public/communal
transport busses increased slightly from 330000 in 1991 to768000 in 2004,
while during the same two wheelers (scooters, motorcycles and mopeds)
increased from 14-15 million to 52 million. Generally, 71% of all the
vehicles are Two-Wheelers, whereas 12% are cars, jeeps and taxis and
only 1% are buses and remaining are others vehicles.
 FIG. 1 Motorization pattern in India, 1971–2002 (Source: Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways, 2004)

The total number of registered vehicles is revealing of the overall outline of

motorization.

NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY/CASUALITY RATE

According to the statistical report of the Government of India, 150,785
people/individuals were killed and 494,624 were injured in the road
accidents in India in the year 2016 (Transport Research Wing 2017).
However, not all injuries are reported. The actual numbers are estimated to
about 2000000 to 3000000. Road traffic incidents or injuries in India have
been increased over the last 12 year (Fig. 2). This may be somewhat due
to the increase in the population of vehicles in the country. These data
shows the numbers of injuries that has continued to increase at about 7% a
year over the past decade.
 FIG 2: Road traffic deaths in India 1970 through 2016 (Source: NCRB 2015 & Transport
Research Wing 2017).

BURDEN OF PUBLIC HEALTH

CASE WITH INDIA

From the data available from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), of
Government of India, the death due to road traffic accidents increased by 2
times while injuries increased to 4 times. According to the data from the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, it is indicated that 40% of death
due to Road traffic injuries in different states occurred. Nearly 15% of the
road traffic fatality occurs in the cities with the population more than 1
million.

INJURY PATTERN AND OUTCOMES

The cruelty, nature and outcome of Road Traffic Incidents are influenced by
various factors. Evidence on injury pattern, nature and outcome are
particularly of the road traffic injuries are inclined by various factors. Data
on the injury pattern are very inadequate in India. It has been projected that
of all the accidents, nearly 60% occurs at the site of crash or during the
transfer, about 20-30% during hospital stay, and 10-20% after discharge.

As Road traffic incidents are a medicolegal incidents, the local police are
informed soon after the crash and some information are gathered from the
police. As police capture data on prehospital and hospital deaths, it is likely
that deaths occurring after hospital discharge due to late complications and
those due to misclassification are likely to be missed out in formal police
reporting systems.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

Road traffic incidents lead to various socioeconomic losses for the country
and result in a heavy burden on individuals and families. The economic
effect is vast due to direct and indirect effects. Expenses due to
serious/long term medical care, vehicle repair, loss to property, legal and
funeral expenses are some direct costs. In absence of collective insurance
coverage, much of the expenditure has to be met by individuals and
families. Long term effect of such childhood deficiency leading to adult risks
behavior through well established.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken a number of steps
to prevent road accidents and road accident fatalities. These include

1. The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy. This

Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting
awareness, establishing road safety information data base,
encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of
intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc.
2. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as
the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.
3. The Ministry has requested all States/UTs for setting up of State
Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees, and to
hold their meetings regularly.
4. The Ministry has constituted Group of Ministers of State Transport
Minister to examine the best practices of Transport and suggest
issues to improve road safety.
5. Based on the recommendation of Group of Minister, the Ministry
introduced Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2017 covering entire
gamut of road safety.
6. The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the
issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E’s viz. Education, Engineering (both
of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care.
7. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at
planning stage.
8. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has
been taken up.
9. The threshold for four laning of national highway has been reduced
from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs. About
52,000 Km of stretches of State Highways has been identified for
conversion to national highways.
10. Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and
refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the
unorganized sector.
11. Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the
electronic and print media.
12. Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, anti-
lock braking system etc.
13. High priority has been accorded to identification and
rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national
highways.
14. Guidelines for identification and rectification of black spots,
carrying out road safety audits and preparation of road safety
improvement proposals on NHs and also guidelines on
implementation of road safety engineering measures on state roads
under Central Road Fund (CRF) have been issued.
15. 789 black spots based on fatalities in 2011,2012,2013 and
2014 calendars years have been identified. So far 189 spots have
already been rectified. Rectification measures at 256 spots have
been sanctioned which are in various stages of implementation. 138
spots are on State Government roads / with other agencies. The
balance 206 spots would be taken separately or would be rectified as
part of ongoing projects.
16. As a measure of supplementing the efforts of States / UTs for
minimizing the accident potential at the identified locations / stretches
 through engineering improvement on state roads, Ministry of Road
Transport & Highways had taken a decision to sanction road safety
works on state roads with an earmarked allocation of 10% of funds
allocated to the state roads under Central Road Fund.
17. Ministry has delegated powers to Regional Officers of MORTH
for technical approval to the detailed estimates for rectification of
identified Road Accident black spots for expediting the rectification
process to ensure safety of road users.
18. Ministry had issued guidelines vide O.M. dated 14.1.2016 for
taking up of Road Safety Audits on National Highways either as part
of EPC/BOT projects or as stand-alone Road Safety Audits.
19. Guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for
persons with disabilities have also been issued to all States / UTs.
20. In order to ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic, Ministry of
Road Transport & Highways has envisaged a plan for replacement of
all the Level Crossing on National Highways by ROBs / RUBs and
replacement / widening / strengthening of weak and narrow bridges
under a scheme SetuBhartam. Under this programme, construction of
208 Level Crossings at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,800 Crore are
included.
21. Two National Level Workshops and several Regional Training
workshops in 11 states have been organized on Road Safety
Engineering.
22. A Certification Course for Road Safety Auditors has been
commenced in Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and 42
Auditors are certified.
23. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has constituted a
District Road Safety Committee in each district of the country to
promote awareness amongst road users under the chairmanship of
Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the district.

(This information is given by the Minister of State for Ministry of

Shipping, Road Transport and Highways and Chemical & Fertilizers
Shri Mansukh L Mandaviya in a written reply to a question in Rajya
Sabha today.)
 CONCLUSION
There exist various modes of transportation, like railways, airways, roadways etc. but
roadways are the most continent way for day to day transportation. The roads in Indian
roads are narrow and overcrowded and thus accidents are a common process in the
society. Today among all other deaths, majority of the lives are being lost due to the
road accidents. Main cause for the accidents are the bad condition and quality of road,
ignorance of the traffic rules by the commuters, not taking proper precautions like seat-
belts, helmets and others. This study accesses the root causes of the road traffic
accidents and its financial repercussion on the personal life.

There are many causes of road accidents, like fault of motor driver is the main cause of
the road accidents, followed by the fault in other drivers, drunk driving, fault of
pedestrians, ignorance of traffic rules, rash driving etc. Financial impact of the road
accidents to the individual indicates that most of the respondent bear instant medical
expenses and also on the repair of the vehicles. Financial repercussions of road
accidents on the family indicates that majority of the victim’s family members had been
mentally tensed and depressed because of the accident and they forced to withdraw
their deposits for meeting their household and other family expense. There are
noteworthy changes in the financial position of the victims after the accidents.

Most of the road accidents are being caused by the human faults or mistake. The one of
the most important reason for death and injuries on the roads remains speeding and
drunk driving. The likelihood of the road traffic accidents can be reduced in various
ways. We must require developing road safety culture nationwide. This can be done by
spreading awareness, by hosting educational program, expert speaks etc.
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 Appendix

1.

FIG. 1 Motorization pattern in India, 1971–2002 (Source: Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways, 2004)

2.

FIG 2: Road traffic deaths in India 1970 through 2016 (Source: NCRB 2015 & Transport
Research Wing 2017).
3.

4.