Team-BHP - Deadly National Highways: Just 2% of roads, but 35% of fatalities

Of the total 1.5 lakh road fatalities in 2016, over 94,000 people died on national and state highways
On an average, one life is lost in every three accidents on NHs and state highways
Traffic violations such as speeding, drunk driving, etc are the main reasons of crashes and fatalities

Deadly National Highways: Just 2% of roads, but 35% of fatalities-nationalhighway7.jpg

Quote:

National Highways constitute only 2% of India’s road length, but account for nearly 35% deaths in road accidents. The corresponding figures for state highways are 3% and 28%.

Of the total 1.5 lakh road fatalities in 2016, over 94,000 people died on national and state highways. On an average, one life is lost in every three accidents on NHs and state highways. Road safety experts feel the data highlight the need for dedicated patrol forces on these highspeed corridors since there is hardly any enforcement of traffic rules by local police.

Traffic violations such as speeding, drunk driving, leaving vehicles parked on road and overloading are rampant and are the main reasons of crashes and fatalities.

Quote:

As we build more highways and expressways, we also need to have some enforcement mechanism in place, else we are going to see more fatalities. The local police lack manpower to monitor violations on highways and expressways. We need a special force that’s trained to catch offenders involved in speeding, drunk driving, overloading and lane violations. The call has to be taken by the Centre and it can rope in the state governments,” said road safety expert Rohit Baluja, who was involved in making the plan for a uniform agency mooted by CISF 13 years back.

Highlighting how each state has inadequate manpower to manage traffic and detect violations, the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) in 2015 suggested that to monitor over 85 lakh vehicles and manage traffic besides numerous VVIP movements, Delhi alone would require 15,345 traffic police personnel, Mumbai with much less number of about 23.33 lakh vehicles would need 4,779 traffic policemen and Lucknow 3,852.

News Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...e=facebook.com

The numbers appear shocking but actually it is not. Highways across the world (not just India) have higher fatalities per km. That's because -

1) Cities & towns have much higher density of road network. Bangalore alone has 10,000 kms of roads while New Delhi has something like 30,000 kms. Traffic density in residential areas is negligible most of the time - which means lower fatalities per km.

2) Average speeds in cities are lower.

3) Speed differential between vehicles is much wider on highways. On a highway, an overloaded truck will be doing 40 km/hr, Tata Ace will be doing 60 kmph, a cylist will be clocking 10 km/hr while a car will be doing 100 km/hr. But in a city, pretty much everybody will be doing the same speeds - so much lower probability of serious accidents.

This is one of those articles that need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Just by reading this article people would automatically assume that these accidents are happening somewhere in the rural areas. In reality, more than the rural roads, it is the semi urban or sub urban areas which are more prone to accidents.

The stretch between Tambaram and Chengalpet on the outskirts of Chennai is an accident prone zone and there is accident related news at least once a week in this stretch. This road is classified as a NH (NH45).

This is just a good headline with really no substance. I'm sure the data collected is unreliable, the police will blame the bus driver if a drunk moped rider decides to enter the bus through the grill. The reason given is that the insurance payout is guaranteed to prevent legal issues.

Reverse the terms of reference, for the distance driven on them, do highways account for higher numbers of fatalities? The majority of deaths and accidents are caused by careless pedestrians, two wheelers jumping the median and local drivers who drive on the wrong side. The police have added to this dangerous situation by placing unmarked barricades on highways,usually on blind turns.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4377486)

Also, availability of hospitals and first-aid inside cities and towns reduces fatalities owing to quick medical intervention.