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Frequent road accidents ensuing huge loss of human lives are leaving permanent scars in the survivors and it has become norm of the day. Despite so many sensitization drives and punitive actions being taken against the rule breakers, the 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 is 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 fifth worst countries to drive on roads globally. 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 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 for repairing them promptly. Moreover the trend of not fixing responsibility in the chain of command gives the concerned officials 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 on of major the causes of aggravating stress problem resulting in road rage incidents especially in summers. Mr Mukhtar Mohsin, the erstwhile Traffic Director of Uttarakhand shared an incident of Bali with the author that 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 sensitize the masses towards this menace, one day in a week may be observed as a ‘No Honking Day’. The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Mr Anand Bardhan showed his concern in this regard in an official meeting recently and gave directions to sensitize youth towards awareness and obedience of traffic rules. Need of the hour is the modernization of driving licensing process. With the burgeoning number of high speed vehicles and expressways in India, issuing driving licenses should be made more stringent. Applicants should be tested on roads, in congested areas, in traffic jams, night driving, highway merging and on emergency response before issuing the driving license. Administrative alertness in this regard will play an important role and help mitigate the road accidents in 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 class rooms 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 biometric and forgery in this regard should be made punishable offence stringently.
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 accidents. Involvement of majority of youngsters in the road mishaps makes it important to focus on education, sensitization and enforcement. Uttarakhand Governments’ plan to include Road safety in school curriculum is a welcome move in this regard. Instilling the idea of road safety at the 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) for learning the nitty gritty of real time traffic situations, assisting the system and giving valuable suggestions. This will help sensitize 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 jittery feeling at the thought itself.
Dr Prashant Thapliyal
Academician
