[Rehaan]

Our roads are death-traps:

• 142,000 lives are lost on Indian roads every year.

• India's road accident fatality count is the highest in the world.

• A road accident takes place every minute. A fatal one every 4 minutes.

• Our "Accidents in India" thread has 1117 pages, 9.7 million views and several new submissions daily.

In 2013 the total number of accidents with injuries registered was 486,476. In those accidents, a shocking 137,572 people died:


There's a lot of data points in the above summary, however, there aren't too many details in terms of what vehicles the accidents involved, what could have prevented them, whether the occupants were belted up, etc.

That's where the following graphs are a bit different...

In 2011 Bosch Engineering formalized an Accident Research team. The focus is currently on 4 national highways near Coimbatore, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Ahmedabad, collecting data on all kinds of traffic accidents with casualties.

So far, they've analysed 990+ cases - which includes logging several hundred parameters, taking pictures of the scene, measurements, injury information and reconstruction of the accident.



The following slides are the results of the Bosch team's analysis (though note the relatively small sample sizes, and the fact that these results might be more location-specific). Nonetheless, there's some interesting insights in here.

Most fatal accidents involve bike users - no surprise there. However, if you consider that the 2-wheeler market is roughly 4 times the size of the car market, and cars are generally considered to be safer, the mere 1.7x difference in fatalities seems disproportionately low:


A whopping 55% of accidents are head-on collisions and collisions with stationary objects. I'd imagine these are more to do with poor infrastructure and driver education/skill, than what most people would truly consider an 'accident'. Of course this chart is also a great way for Bosch to point out how (their) safety systems might help. As you can see they seem to have taken seat-belts as a given, which is great - but unfortunately in India we're still at the stage where hardly anyone is even using seat-belts:


For cars, ABS could have made a noticeable difference in 30% of the studied accidents. In 2/5th of those cases, it would have prevented the accident entirely:


Powered Two-Wheelers show an even stronger case for ABS! Note that for 2-wheelers, even something as basic as a reduced collision speed can make a major difference in injuries sustained:


Now for a really sad one. Seat-belts - despite being available in most cars - were only confirmed to have been used in just 13% of the cases on these highways:


Note the difference between fatal/serious injuries in cars not equipped with airbags, and those with airbags:


And finally, a quick overview of the safety-related legislation we can expect in the next 5 years. Some hope; but it really needs to be combined with education about road safety to be truly effective:


The full report & summary are attached below:

[wilful]

Thank you for putting up this very exhaustive study. I think belting up must be made compulsory pronto in all states like they have done in Kerala with the threat of hefty fines. Interesting to note the case for ABS in motorbikes. And a whopping 15% reduction in injuries in airbag fitted vehicles surely must close the case. (We must remember that airbags/ABS are not the Kavacha & Kundala - protective armour - of Karna - in Mahabharatha). They do not make the vehicle idiot proof safe.

[rohanjf]

Bosch manufactures ABS and other safety systems. Their study is one sided. They are only trying to promote their products. Most of the accidents occurred because of poor infrastructure and bad drivers. No safety systems could have prevented them.


I think I am now qualified to join the board of directors of at least some of the major Indian car manufacturers.

[hillsnrains]

Thanks Rehaan for the useful post.

Here are my observations:
- Registered vehicle numbers are increasing consistently by every passing year (without any major changes)
- After 2011 fatalities rate of increase has came down, better infrastructure (?) is the reason for this?
- As rohanjf pointed, Bosch is trying to increase their sales. I think that can be acceptable, because ABS and Airbags will certainly save some lives.
- We (read all Indians) should be aware of these statistics. May be in the form of a small clip before the beginning of a movie like the one we are having currently for the tobacco use. I guess many people are not aware, that Indian roads are having maximum number of fatalities in the world.

Now my only hope is the new motor vehicle bill (of course along with some common sense, respect for law from all the road users including pedestrians)

[speedmiester]

Thanks for the informative post.
Such studies are very much essential to imbibe and embrace safety technologies.

I wish for a next gen device which won't allow the car to move until every passenger and driver is properly belted up.

[driverace]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

...
I think I am now qualified to join the board of directors of at least some of the major Indian car manufacturers.

That's premium level of sarcasm. (I hope people get that it's a sarcastic comment).

Thanks, Rehaan - for the helpful information.

Why aren't these studies talking about the "estimated" speeds that the accident-involved vehicles were doing?
The speeds could be retrieved through ECU of some cars - if not all..

I am trying to understand - driving at what range of speeds, I can expect ABS+Airbags to be of any help!

(*I do understand, that the speed will be relative, i.e. in case of head-on, it would be addition of two speeds.)

Ace.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Bosch manufactures ABS and other safety systems. Their study is one sided. They are only trying to promote their products. Most of the accidents occurred because of poor infrastructure and bad drivers. No safety systems could have prevented them.


I think I am now qualified to join the board of directors of at least some of the major Indian car manufacturers.

There can be some commercial motivation here for Bosch here but i am glad a company like Bosch exists who mass manufactures such safety systems and makes them available to all kind of manufacturers.

[su1978]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Bosch manufactures ABS and other safety systems. Their study is one sided. They are only trying to promote their products. Most of the accidents occurred because of poor infrastructure and bad drivers. No safety systems could have prevented them.


I think I am now qualified to join the board of directors of at least some of the major Indian car manufacturers.

Prevention is always better than cure. What bosch is trying to do here is help us by helping themselves. The members of this forum would definitely be happiest if all the saftey products they sell manages to save even one life lost in road accident. Automobiles now a days are becoming advanced and they will definitely be more fast on the road. There is no way we can hold them back. Remember that change is the only constant in life. And it should always be for the better. Same thing is happening in Automobile companies. We indians are really unfortunate to have a government which moves at snails pace (all areas), but that in anyways does not discount saftey. While driving we must keep in mind that other than self, everyone is drunk. Save yourself as well as the other person. If we are not able to save ourself, at least some protective thing would be of some relief.

To sum up, we must have all the vehicles with ABS & Airbags. Like we have a green tribunal which has ruled out more than 15yrs old from Delhi roads, we must have a Saftey tribunal which comes out with similar ruling.

[AmazeGuru]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Bosch manufactures ABS and other safety systems. Their study is one sided. They are only trying to promote their products. Most of the accidents occurred because of poor infrastructure and bad drivers. No safety systems could have prevented them.

The study is not about 'preventing' accidents, rather how impact/extent of damage during an accident can be minimized. In an ideal world, if infrastructure is good and all drivers judiciously follow rules, there is no need for Safety systems. We don't live in a perfect world and these safety systems have become necessity with the sole purpose of 'saving lives' of people travelling in the car, and not avoiding accidents. Besides, there is nothing wrong in Bosch promoting their safety systems, if in the long run it saves human lives.

In my view, result of the study is not surprising at all. We all know how driving happens in India and this kind of result is quite on the expected lines. The only difference is that we now know the numbers

[utsav1303]

I would differ IMO of BHPians that study is one sided to promote sales of Bosch equipments.

Bosch is one of the sponsor alongside Honda, Renault and other manufacturers promoting research of accidents with JP Research India Pvt. Ltd, Chennai.

http://www.jpresearchindia.com/

ABS is more useful in preventing accidents as it is a part of active safety systems (or primary safety) that are active prior to an accident.

While airbags are part of passive safety systems which are activated post-accident.

IMO, at least use of ABS in vehicles must be promoted.

[prabhu789]

Rehaan, Thanks for your detailed report. Definitely to an extent ABS would have prevented accidents and Airbag would have saved life of many people involved in accident. We have been discussing this for quite some time and still we see many people opt for variants without these safety features. I see this trend wont change until government makes it mandatory. Government should also take necessary steps to improve the road condition and also implement strict rules.

[MaheshY1]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

As you can see they seem to have taken seat-belts as a given, which is great - but unfortunately in India we're still at the stage where hardly anyone is even using seat-belts

I personally, absolutely hate that annoying 'seat belt warning' light. So I buckle up even while moving the car in the basement parking lot.
Rebuking my wife every time for not buckling has now made it her habit. Kinda like muscle memory; turning on the switch before entering the bathroom even during the day.

Now she is buckled before I am.

And, now that I know I'll always be buckled, I thought I might as well paste that 'I Drive Safe' bumper sticker.
I've also pasted that Tata AIG sticker on my rear windshield that says:
'Wear your seat belts. You've paid for it.'

[fine69]

I'm sure it might be an eye-opener for a lot of uninformed folks but I don't think it would make much difference to the informed lot. The informed lot knows, better be safe than sorry.

Knowing our process of issuing driving license, the implementation & execution of already laid down laws, the honesty of traffic and police cops, the judicial system etc. if anybody still wishes to save some money based on the statistics shown by a party with vested interests (or even if it was a neutral party), is just being ignorant!

I say, get a tank if you can, if not, get the safest car you can afford!

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by fine69

Knowing our process of issuing driving license

I would disagree on this front. I have been to the RTO here for a couple of times and have observed that they do no issue the licences to those who cannot pass the driving test.
I have seen the agents pleading to the officers but they stand their ground. For them, it is simple. If the applicant cannot clear the driving test (eg driving the 8 for the 2 wheeler licences)he/she does not get the licence.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

I would disagree on this front. I have been to the RTO here for a couple of times and have observed that they do no issue the licences to those who cannot pass the driving test.
I have seen the agents pleading to the officers but they stand their ground. For them, it is simple. If the applicant cannot clear the driving test (eg driving the 8 for the 2 wheeler licences)he/she does not get the licence.

I'm glad there are honest people in certain RTOs. However, for the most part, its a joke.

People are asked to start the car, slot the car in first gear and as soon as the car hits an unnerving speed of 5 kmph they are asked to stop and given a clearance.

I've seen touts having more authority in certain RTOs than anybody else.