[JS Kwt]

Delhi performs the worst, Kolkata the best in
Ford Road Safety Survey

Ford India has released the findings of its road safety study which assesses the behaviour of Indian road users in six major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.



The report not only highlights a low level of awareness and discipline among Indian road users, but also shows a stark difference in people's outlook towards road safety in different cities, with the national capital performing the worst.



The study assessed people on compliance with regulations, the caution they exercised while driving and the compassion they showed for other commuters.

Four types of road users
Ford says that the responses to its study highlight four distinct personalities of road users in India.
People who are impulsive, lack knowledge and frequently flout rules have been psychologically profiled as ‘Oblivious’.
The next category of less-than-ideal commuters are the ‘Assured’ – essentially people who think they know their way around rules and indulge in unfavourable road behaviour.
Then there are the ‘Pretentious’. These people are more aware of rules, but they are quick to justify and pass the buck when occasionally found to not be conforming to expectations.
Lastly, the ‘Idealists’ are road users who show the highest constraint and regularly follow the law of the land.

Painting a worrying image, the survey categorised as many as 40 percent of the participants as ‘Oblivious’, with another 27 percent being termed as ‘Assured’. A lower, 25 percent of the respondents fell under the ‘Pretentious’ category, while ‘Idealists’ accounted for only 8 percent of the total.



Low awareness of road regulations
The Ford survey also tested people on their knowledge about road rules and regulations, akin to a driver’s licence test. Alarmingly, only 6 percent of the respondents got more than half the answers right.

Lack of driving discipline
97 percent of the participants felt that distracted driving, such as drunk driving and using a phone while on the road, was the leading cause of accidents, with aggressive driving also being called out by 80 percent people.

58 percent people confessed to talking on the phone while driving, and a similar number admitted to getting behind the wheel even when feeling drowsy. 53 percent said that they did not give way to emergency vehicles, and 63 percent were fine with the idea of seating their kids in the front passenger seat.

The need for road safety awareness
India leads the list of 199 countries when it comes to the number of road accident deaths.

Despite human error being one of the major causes of fatalities on the road, the Ford Cartesy study highlights a clear indifference of Indian commuters towards road safety.

Full Article

[Sanidhya mukund]

A great survey. While analysing crash test reports is important, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I.e, it is important for us to know how people actually drive on the roads. Kudos to Ford for conducting this.
Honestly, I am not surprised that Delhi is at the bottom. Driving in Delhi is so damn frustrating. People overtake from the wrong side, cut lanes, honk impatiently and over-speed all the time. Auto and bus drivers don’t have any considerations for other road users here. They try to squeeze through narrow roads as fast as they can, even if it means gifting the other car with a scratch.
You also notice way too many squids roaming on their bikes aimlessly. In fact, once I was waiting at a traffic signal, and this helmet-less guy on a bike rammed into my car from behind. I got down and helped him pick his bike, but even before I could ask if he is okay, he took up a very hostile body language, started screaming and asked me,”yeh bhi koi jagah hai rukne ki?” (Why have you stopped in the middle of a road?). This was when I pointed out to the dimwit that it is common sense to stop “in the middle of the road” when the traffic light is red.
I have come across all 4 personality types on Delhi roads, and I think the most common one here is the entitled one who thinks that he can bully his way through traffic and bribe the police/fight it out with fists in case something goes wrong.

This picture perfectly sums up driving in Delhi! (Source: Times of India)

[Cessna182]

Kolkata traffic is tolerable till you cross the airport road. The traffic coming in from places like Barasat is horrible. Most drivers are intoxicated and drive like lunatics. Accidents and deaths are very common. Also, the bus and auto drivers in Kolkata have impunity. It is not uncommon to find autos zipping away at a red light where a normal car owner will get fined. I have not seen worse bus drivers in any of the big cities. Private operators stop anywhere they want to and race with each other to pickup passengers. Surprised to see this result.

[abhisheksircar]

Kolkata is the best in road safety ? I had learnt actual driving in Kolkata where they say, if you managed to drive in Kolkata safely, you could drive in any city in the world. I wonder if the survey was limited to the flyover which stretches from Airport to Race course. There is more of Kolkata Ford. Guess you missed it !!

I rarely saw vehicles without scratches. Owners don't bother repairing as well as they know it will come again. On a signal, I was almost hit by a taxi as he almost played who blinks first when I was crossing a legit Zebra crossing on foot. The fight between private buses is ruthless to an extent that passengers have lost their arms in an incident. I can go on and on !

As @cessna182 mentioned, surprised to see the result.

[revsperminute]

I am originally from Kolkata and for someone who recently spent a fortnight driving in and around the city, trust me this survey does not reflect on the actual scenario in the streets. It's far far away from anything that can be deemed as safe.

[V.Narayan]

Not surprised at all with the results of the survey. A big thanks to Ford to put some measurement rigour over one of India's worst habits. As a nation we rank very poorly on civic sense and on knowing how to behave in public with consideration for fellow users of a public space or utility. For all you know we are, in my opinion, in the bottom 10% of all countries in civic sense and as the data shows absolutely the worst on traffic accidents. A lot of this begins at home, on what we are taught by example and what we learn by observation. By we I mean the full 138 crores of us and not the tiny group of law abiding Team BHP members :-)

Unfortunately the implementers of the law are often, at the ground level, themselves ignorant of the law and more interested in lining their pockets. But they alone are not to blame because we the citizens are willing collaborators in helping them with this lining.

The problem is not just about road sense. It is a part of the same attitude which makes Indian men urinate in the open at any convenient spot, makes us spit where we wish and so on.

As far as road sense and discipline goes we need to start with road driving training and exams to fit so that only those who really pass get a license. Our driver boom is attitudes of the 19th century colliding with assets and facilities of the 21st century.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Not surprised at all with the results of the survey....
not the tiny group of law abiding Team BHP members :-)

Unfortunately the implementers of the law are often, at the ground level, themselves ignorant of the law and more interested in lining their pockets. But they alone are not to blame because we the citizens are willing collaborators in helping them with this lining.

The problem is not just about road sense. It is a part of the same attitude which makes Indian men urinate in the open at any convenient spot, makes us spit where... .

You had me at "law abiding Team BHP members...
Americans take their driving very seriously, I've seen more than one American dad /mom coaching their teenagers on how to judge the yellow light on casual drives. I was even more impressed with 3 year olds trooping out of the apartment complex in freezing weather to the safe assembly area when a fire alarm went off at 1 AM. (of course we desis did the smart thing and stayed inside, realizing it would be some Indian guy frying something that set off the alarm)
Just yesterday we saw our maid (on her scooter) almost make a blind turn onto an oncoming truck from the wrong side of a T junction ( away from the city) while we were out for a walk. We stopped her and asked her if she was aware of the mistake she had made. She grinned sheepishly but did not answer. My wife has been trying to convince her to get a license for some time now. She's scared of the RTO officials asking for a bribe (she already paid for transferring the vehicle to her name and is keenly aware of the rates) - she has paid a fine to the police for not having a license and now avoids the main roads. I am looking for a youtube video that I can ask her to watch for getting some basic road sense. I wish the government would just get the hxll out of my country.

[Thermodynamics]

Thank God they did not compare with global average, that would have been terrible. In general, I agree with the survey as being someone who moved from Chennai to Bangalore.

There is no dearth for buddies who think “my way is the highway”, “all ways are highways”, “whole highway is my way” and then, there are dudes who ride on other’s brake pads.

[J4J]

Quoting from link above.

The survey was done by conducting 1,561 interviews across the six metros

Is this even a fair number considering the total vehicles registered in top 6 cities of India?

I have found driving in Delhi to be relatively better. This is even before the new motor vehicle law was implemented.
The report suggests that the percentage if idealists in Delhi is Zero. Yes, absolute zero.

Anyone driving in Delhi/Noida can say that there are very good drivers you can spot in almost every ride. Numbers are less but still not 0.

One problem Delhi suffers the most is road rage. This is one area where the city can land up in the top spot.

Also it would be very interesting to see how many surveys come out regarding road & traffic light infrastructure. Almost all such surveys blame drivers. I think that if Indian drivers have a casual approach, it is because of a reason. This didn't happen overnight. Non functional lights, flooded roads, broken roads forcing one to divert/take the wrong way, Non functioning yellow lights, abnormally low speed(30Kmph) limits on 4 lane roads, improperly marked speed breakers to name a few.

What I have observed is that driving in our country needs a conscious approach 100% of the time we are behind the wheel. This is something many drivers are not willing to do. We may be driving right but may land up in deep trouble due to someone else's behavior. So driving here means driving sanely and monitoring who all in the road are not driving so and maintaining distance from them.
In developed countries if you are right, law will stand by you. So you just need to follow the rules.
For example, if we are driving and a bus/truck is closely following you. Will you dare stop at a yellow light? This is the dilemma we have to face.

[BlackPearl]

Having driven in all the cities mentioned, I would have kept Chennai a bit above Kolkata and Hyderabad below Delhi.

[mvadg]

I'm wondering if Google can come up with an app to tell us how we drive. They already know if you are driving a car or riding a bike, they know your speed, traffic conditions and location, possibly the road conditions (potholes, state of dryness), risky locations on the road based on past accident data, etc etc. At the end of every drive they could give you a score. I'm pretty sure Tesla could do this.

Google could definitely tell us how a city drives far better than this limited survey by Ford.

[Kosfactor]

According to the road accidents report that came in last year, Chennai topped the list followed by Delhi and Bangalore in that order.

Back in 04 when I visited Delhi I noticed that all vehicles had a decent sized dent on all sides, seems that's common. Recently I spend some time in Chennai and it seemed a bit rougher than Bangalore. But Bangalore traffic is a bit thin now, we'll see when things are back to normal.

[RoadMonkey]

I have a confession to make. The way I drive today, I'm definitely in the "Pretentious" category. I have been an Idealist all my driving life until very recently when I moved to the NCR. I had been driving like an Idealist here and it was only a source of endless frustration, given that nobody else cares. Eg., If I avoid tailgating someone, another person would consider than an "opening" to barge into my lane. Over time I've downgraded to the Pretentious category in order to survive in this traffic. This part of the country doesn't allow you to be an Idealist even if you want to be.

[yd_gli]

I am not sure on the population size or other statistical data to draw conclusions on the differences between cities. But the following statements reflect the sorry state of affairs as a country on the whole:

Originally Posted by JS Kwt

Lack of driving discipline
97 percent of the participants felt that distracted driving, such as drunk driving and using a phone while on the road, was the leading cause of accidents, with aggressive driving also being called out by 80 percent people.

58 percent people confessed to talking on the phone while driving, and a similar number admitted to getting behind the wheel even when feeling drowsy. 53 percent said that they did not give way to emergency vehicles, and 63 percent were fine with the idea of seating their kids in the front passenger seat.
The need for road safety awareness
India leads the list of 199 countries when it comes to the number of road accident deaths.

The lack of civic sense and discipline has driven this country to ruin. Our behavior on the road is the only area where this manifests itself openly to the public. Forget China or the West. We are headed towards becoming the next Somalia if this continues for few more decades.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

I have a confession to make. The way I drive today, I'm definitely in the "Pretentious" category.

I can relate to this, Delhi NCR Traffic does make one a villian eventually and no wonder Mumbai cops hate Delhi cars.

I am not surprised that Delhi stands at the bottom, its just endless frustration to drive here, My fellow friends laugh at me for using my indicators while changing lanes and no one takes wearing a seatbelt seriously, underage kids are handed over keys to a vehicle and they ride/drive with no regard to other road users. I drive in constant fear to not hit someone because one never knows if something will pop in front of you from the sky and blame you for it (happened with my father).

I have extensively driven in and around Delhi NCR and jaipur and i feel the smaller city has more sensible drivers and even more considerate auto rickshaw drivers, the whole city follows the same rules however crowded they may be and it makes for a much pleasant drive when everyone is going in the same direction. It's still not in anyway perfect but way better than the capital.