WHY ROAD SAFETY IS A VITAL FOCUS YET IN INDIA

An article by Vijay Vardhan Kudari, Legal Adviser, IRSPC.

INTERCONTINENTAL ROAD SAFETY PROBE OBSERVING THIS NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY MONTH (18TH OF JAN – 17TH OF FEB 2021)

Dear Citizens of India

Greetings to you from Intercontinental Road Safety Probe Confederation (IRSPC), It is our pleasure to introduce ourselves a as nucleus team of IRSPC in the errand to build up the technology driven Road Safety initiatives and interventions in India and its prop up.

In our introduction we bring before you this little epitome of IRSPC., Intercontinental Road Safety Probe Confederation has been licensed under section 8 of the Indian Companies Act, 2013 on 18-09-2017, the Registered office and Head Quarters is situated in Hyderabad City, of South India. IRSPC is a Non-Profit and Non-Governmental Organization established for association and development of the nationwide initiatives taken in the field of Road Safety and to exchange knowledge, views and ideas that are successfully practiced around the Nation. This meticulous drive has been took to squat the Road Accidents and uphold Integrated Traffic Management System in the Nation by virtue of edification and research.

This enlightening idea hath been designed with panel of top dignitaries by scaling the Road Accidental Deaths occurred in the period of one decade in India, and in view of defensive mechanism of Road Accidents and delivery mechanism of Road Safety for future generations, we embark on this National Integrity Programme which is imperative in making Road Safety a better place to live in. It delivers a large scan of technological interventions, research and development activities, engineering practices, regulatory and viable aspects which focus on Road Safety, Traffic Management and Environmental Sagacity to mitigate the unwanted consequences of this subject.

According to Ministry of Road transport and Highways (MORTH) road accidents continue to be a leading cause of death, disabilities and hospitalization in the country despite of commitment and efforts. India ranks first in the number of road accident deaths across the 199 countries and accounts for almost 11% of the accident-related deaths in the World.

As per the Road Accident Report for 2019, a total number of 449,002 accidents took place in our country during the calendar year 2019 leading to 151,113 deaths and 451,361 injuries. In percentage terms, the number of accidents decreased by 3.86 % in 2019over that of the previous year, while the accident-related deaths decreased by 0.20 % and the persons injured decreased by 3.86. The decline in road accidents, killings and injury reported during the calendar year 2019 appear to have been a result of the Motor Vehicle Act implemented in States from September 1st 2019 which focused on road safety and included, inter-alia, stiff hike in penalties for traffic violations as well as electronic enforcement.

The other trends noted in 2019 were very similar to those recorded in the previous years. National Highways which comprise of 2.03 percent of total road network, continued to account for a disproportionate share of 35.7 per cent of deaths in 2019 pointing to need for improved enforcement and correctives to be put on National Highways. State Highways which account for 3.01% of the road length accounted for 24.8 percent of deaths. Other Roads which constitute about 95 % of the total roads were responsible for the balance 39% deaths respectively, and electronic monitoring of the same. Like in the previous years, the working age group of 18 – 60 accounted for a share of 84 percent in the total road accident deaths. Under the category of Traffic Rule Violations, over speeding continued to be a major killer even in 2019, accounting for 67% of the persons killed followed by driving on the wrong side of the road which accounted for 6% of the accident-related deaths.

Accident Analysis for the City of Hyderabad, Telangana – 2019;

Total accidents of – 2493

Number of deaths – 271

Pillion Riders Deaths – 37

Pillion Riders Injured – 432

Age-wise Accidents;

0-5 years – 24

5-10 years – 70

10-15 years – 43

15-20 years – 123

20-25 years – 292

25-30 years – 341

30-35 years – 253

35-40 years – 281

40 -45 years – 235

45-50 years – 192

50-55 years – 202

55-60 years – 164

60-65 years – 108

65-70 years – 77

70-75 years – 48

75-80 years – 19

80-85 years – 15

85-90 years – 05

90-95 years – 01

Vehicle-wise involvement in Accidents;

Two-Wheeler – 951

Four-Wheeler – 817

Three-Wheeler – 237

RTC BUS – 127

Lorry – 97

Unknown Vehicle – 102

DCM – 46

Tempo Trolly – 55

School Bus – 06

Tanker – 12

Private Bus – 18

Setwin Bus – 09

HTV Driver – 09

Seven-Seater Auto – 02

Others – 05

Cause-wise Fatal Accidents;

Total Fatal Cases – 259

Total Deaths – 271

Over Speed – 137

Rash & Negligence – 72

Drunk & Drive – 15

Cell Phone Driving – 0

Wrong Side Drive – 5

Signal Jump – 01

Minor Driving – 7

Negligence – 12

Road Engineering Defects – 2

Other Causes – 8

What is the Road Safety crisis?

Ø 17 people die every hour on Indian Roads.

Ø 4.34 Lakh Crores is the cost to India due to road accidents annually.

Ø 29 Children die everyday on Indian roads.

Ø 50% road accident deaths could have been avoided if rapid assistance is rendered.

Ø 50 Lakhs+ people have been seriously injured or permanently disabled over past decade in India.

Ø 13 Lakhs+ people have been killed in the road accidents over past decade in India.

Key factors responsible for road accidents;

Ø Bad road-user behavior

Ø Fractured licensing system; Driver training not mandatory; Negligible management of fatigue.

Ø Flawed road design and engineering

Ø Road user conflict; Poor road design with disregard to Safe System Approach; Poor road engineering and maintenance; No safety standards for vehicles.

Ø Weak enforcement of traffic law

Ø Weak Penalty system; Human dependent enforcement; Minimal use of technology; Limited risk factors addressed in law.

Ø Lack of rapid trauma care

Ø Lack of Bystander care; No standard protocols for care; No universal access number; National ambulance code yet to be issued.

Ø No Technological interventions viz., Information Communication Technology Enabled Services and (or) implementing IIoT based Road Safety products.

Road traffic in India currently operates within the legal framework established in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. While the Act was enacted at a time when the growth in India’s road transport sector could not have been envisaged, it has only been moderately amended in the last 28 years with complete disregard to road safety and rationalization of penalties. A number of key contributing factors to road accidents have not been addressed as the purview of the act is limited to “motor vehicles” instead of road users in general. Over 50 percent of road users, including vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, are not protected under the ambit of the Act. This has led to a negligible framework for road safety in India with powers divided between States and the Centre.

The United Nations General Assembly, in their 17th Session, and in the Resolution 70/1, dated 25/09/2015, with the headline “Transforming the world: the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development - The global development agenda have been set for 10 years, and for the first time ever, they have included two Road Safety Targets.

Nevertheless, in the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety: Achieving Global Goals 2030 Stockholm, held on 19–20 February 2020; the committee has recognized that Sustainable Development Goal, Target 3.6 will not be met by 2020.

In the new resolution the Target 3.6 envision an endeavor to slash the number of road crashes related deaths and injury to half by 2030 and the Target 11.2 envision to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport system for all. Improving road Safety, particularly by way of expanding public transport with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations like women, children, people with disabilities and senior citizens.

IRSPC in association with State and Central Govt. Agencies, reaffirm the commitment to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Wherefore, through the means of its technology project named “Road Safety Reporter - Mobile Application”, IRSPC conforms and assure to involve the youth (as they are the major sufferers in the road crash deaths and injuries). Through the means of “Road Safety Reporter” IRSPC involves youth from all parts of the nation in the road injury prevention projects and programs and the necessity of scaling up activities. IRSPC believes that youth are the key instruments to address the unacceptable burden of road traffic injury and with their pledge and power they can bring reforms in the political, legislative and judicial bodies of India, which indeed gives added strength for restructuring the government regulations for taking necessary action on road safety;

Purpose of IRSPC’ RSR Project:

The primary objective of the project is about “Violation Report”. Violation includes all kinds of violation, to name a few; 1) All types of traffic violations, 2) Crimes against women, 3) Social media harassments.

The secondary objective is the “SOS”. This is only used for emergencies. As soon as the user clicks on this button, two immediate responses takes place i.e., 1) Alert to nearest police station and related departments, 2) Drones get activated and reach the users location ASAP. When alert is sent to the police department, we will provide them live location of the user, recent call log, live drone surveillance and other necessary information. Drones follow the user where ever he/she goes and provide live surveillance to operator’s control room as well as police department. Drone cameras are capable of capturing in highest resolution possible along with night vision technology. While reporting a violation, the user should provide a proof of crime and this can be either a photo, a video, or live capture. This proof of crime will be evaluated by the respective team and then will be sent to the respected police department. User will be rewarded with 5%-10% of the fine depending upon their type of violation they reported. This amount will be directly added to the app wallet, later the user can also add this to his/her respective bank account.

The third objective is “Social Media”. The user can share photos, videos, quotes and what not with their family and friends. The user can update his/her present status by uploading either photos or videos which will be only visible for 24hrs to the fellow users. User can upload his/her pledge and this will also be visible in “Road Safety Pledge” web-portal. Users can also chat with th

Conclusion

Road accidents are not accidents-they are avoidable and need to be stopped!

If we join our hands and work towards deterring road deaths by providing apt technology driven initiatives, education and training among road users.

Therefore, your concern is important; ROAD SAFETY + CONCERN = CHANGE.

We remain to this very CAUSE, and keeping continuous efforts to bring change in INDIA (a Nation which shall be accident free by 2030)

Vijay Vardhan Kudari

Legal Adviser,

Intercontinental Road Safety Probe Confederation

www.roadsafetyprobe.org