[TusharK]

According to the latest report on road safety by the World Health Organization (WHO), 13 out of 100 killed in road accidents across the world in 2021 were from India.



India is one of the 65 countries where road deaths have increased. Fatalities went up from 1.3 lakh in 2010 to 1.5 lakh in 2021. India had almost 46% of the 3.3 lakh deaths that occurred in the Southeast Asia region.

According to the WHO, the Indian government had provided the number of people killed in road accidents in 2021. However, it is estimated that the total number of fatalities could be around 2.16 lakh, considering that some of the victims would have succumbed to their injuries months after meeting with the accidents.

India remains at the top among 174 countries when it comes to road deaths.

Source: ET Auto

Link to Team-BHP news

[SidTheChamp]

No surprise. Driving on highways is so undisciplined over here compared to western countries.

Driving on 2 lane highways without a divider is the riskiest one because it results in head on collision often.
And even on proper highways, rash driving is rampant.

In my opinion that's where we lag behind western countries. We may have the cars, but no proper driving discipline

[Livnletcarsliv]

While it may be a fact that India leads the death count in road accidents, this report does not make sense at all.

We have to take into account numerous factors when it comes to these kind of study/reports - time of these accidents, type/nature of these accidents, place of these accidents, urban or rural, age, gender, type of vehicles involved, type of fatalities, etc.
India is the most populous country in the world and approximately 40% of population is Urban. The Infra as well as education in India still is a long way to go to match up to the population and standards of the developed nations.

So unless these reports give more detail, there is nothing we can conclude, control, improve or stop.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

.

So unless these reports give more detail, there is nothing we can conclude, control, improve or stop.

Just look up the report:

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240086517

https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handl...pdf?sequence=1

Jeroen

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by TusharK

According to the latest report on road safety by the World Health Organization (WHO), 13 out of 100 killed in road accidents across the world in 2021 were from India.

Statistics like this really bother me. India has the world's highest population! 17 out of 100 people in the world live in India!

Not saying that road safety standards in our country are fine, there's a lot to improve upon.

But statistics like the above need to be reported on a per capita basis so that they have more meaning.

[Mr.Ogre]

Originally Posted by SidTheChamp

No surprise. Driving on highways is so undisciplined over here compared to western countries.

Driving on 2 lane highways without a divider is the riskiest one because it results in head on collision often.
And even on proper highways, rash driving is rampant.

In my opinion that's where we lag behind western countries. We may have the cars, but no proper driving discipline

Why just the highways? Even driving on the city roads is nothing but a challenge. People driving from all possible directions and everyone has to reach somewhere in a hurry. The concept of giving way is still alien.

Moreover the constant digging and repair works on the roads adds to the already frustrating situation.

It is high time strict licensing and strict implementation of road rules is taken on a priority if things need to change for the better.

[varunswnt]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

Why just the highways? Even driving on the city roads is nothing but a challenge. People driving from all possible directions and everyone has to reach somewhere in a hurry. The concept of giving way is still alien.

In my observation, not giving way on intersection and crossroads is biggest contributing factor leading to deadlocks ranging from several minutes to hours.

On top of that, cops here in Pune encourage vehicles to come way ahead of stop line on major crossroads (leading to blocking oncoming vehicles at Vimannagar signal and other spots on Ahmednagar highway) as they think this frees up traffic flow at quick rate.

[madhavgpai]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

But statistics like the above need to be reported on a per capita basis so that they have more meaning.

Can't find the source now, but had come across some per capita numbers a few months ago.

The main thing I remember is that India had fewer road accidents per capita than developed countries, unfortunately still, we had higher casualties and serious injuries per capita from road accidents than developed countries.

This could mean 2 things:

We have less accidents per capita probably because vast majority of India are not road regular road users yet in comparison to the developed countries.

And despite that we have a higher death rate, which underlines that we have a lot of catching up to do in safety standards.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

17 out of 100 people in the world live in India!
But statistics like the above need to be reported on a per capita basis so that they have more meaning.

Here you go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ted_death_rate



India's road safety is comparable to that of China/Russia/Brazil etc.

Originally Posted by madhavgpai

We have less accidents per capita probably because vast majority of India are not road regular road users yet in comparison to the developed countries.And despite that we have a higher death rate, which underlines that we have a lot of catching up to do in safety standards.

Pedestrians account for 20% of deaths in India. It is significantly lower in other countries. You don't have to own a bike or a car to end up in this statistic.

[lina]

We dont respect others in any aspect of life. The consequences are felt maximum while driving because you are sitting in a fast moving metal box which can physically hurt others.

Accident rates wont drop till we realise that everyone is a human that deserves to be respected. Queue up, maintain lines and lanes, stop honking and wait your turn.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Statistics like this really bother me. India has the world's highest population! 17 out of 100 people in the world live in India!

Not saying that road safety standards in our country are fine, there's a lot to improve upon.

But statistics like the above need to be reported on a per capita basis so that they have more meaning.

Each to its own. Whichever way you are going to report it, India is having a problem.

When it comes to death by accident I believe the only relevant number is an absolute number. Whether you are looking at say domestic accidents, sports related death, deaths on construction placesetc.

Why do you think aviation fatal statistics have come down so much in the space of only a couple of decades. Because as an industry they focused on zero fatality. Period. Nothing else will do.

It’s the same in any other industry that has managed to bring fatal accidents down. When I started working in the offshore industry, there were horrendous accidents all over the world. They started a program of zero deaths and within a decade that brought a huge positive impact. Same in heavy industries around the world. These day it is more or less the norm that off shore rigs, factories have no fatalities year in, year out. That’s because they set themselves a goal of zero fatalities. They did not say, oh, this plant has 20000 workers and this one only 200. It’s ok if a couple of guys die a year at the place with a lot of workers.

In all of the above cases/industries the most important aspect was to get a change of attitude. As long as people think it is ok to have a certain fatal accident rate, you are going to have fatal accidents. That’s why the approach needs to be zero fatalities. Nothing else will do.

Death is absolute, so the statistics illustrating it need to be absolute as well. Nothing else will do.

Jeroen

[am1m]

Already people have started defending this by saying, stats, per capita etc.

Here are some stats, we have just what 8-9% of households owning a car and maybe just over half (55%?) with bikes. And already our accident stats are alarming. What happens when ownership/vehicle density ramps up, as it surely will? Even if you disregard the stats, the reality of driving/riding/walking on our roads is obvious!

Let's not take this as 'shaming' (though the title on the forum home page certainly says that). The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it and measuring the extent. Let's hope scrutiny like this goads the government into some action.

We can make as many infra changes as we want and mandate safety features, improve public transport, but till we get really, really tough about licensing and driver education, and absolutely draconian about punishing even the slightest offenses on the road, these stats will just balloon.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Why do you think aviation fatal statistics have come down so much in the space of only a couple of decades. It’s the same in any other industry that has managed to bring fatal accidents down. Same in heavy industries around the world.

Aviation & industrial accidents have low casualties now only because of large-scale automation & technology adoption. If you give shovels to coal miners and ask them to dig up coal now, the casualties wil go back up to previous levels - even if the safety processes are improved.

Ditto with road accidents & safety. Increase in automation & driver assistance is the only solution to fix the problem. Overall, the automobile industry is heading in the right direction - with increased adoption of ADAS/self-driving etc.

That's because there are literally millions of 'decision makers' using the road. Even a simple act of not being attentive enough for a couple of seconds means somebody ends up becoming a death statistic. What automation/technology adoption will do is solve the core problem -> which is to reduce/eliminate the need for taking decisions at the right moment by millions of road users.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Aviation & industrial accidents have low casualties now only because of large-scale automation. If you give shovels to coal miners and ask them to dig up coal now, the casualties will go back up to previous levels - even if the safety processes are improved.

Ditto with road accidents & safety. Increase in automation & driver assistance is the only solution to fix the problem. Overall, the automobile industry is heading in the right direction - with increased adoption of ADAS/self-driving.

That is more the means to an end. But it still requires the right attitude for those in power, and remarkably perhaps those on the ground so to speak.

It is a no-brainer that if you take the human out of the loop, you will not have any human-caused mistakes. So yes, automation, amongst other things has played a big role in aviation and other industries.

But even today, attitude is the biggest contributing factor in all these industries. A pilot with the wrong attitude, a welder with the wrong attitude, an oil rig worker with the wrong attitude, or a mine worker with the wrong attitude is going to get themselves and or co-workers killed.

We had a maritime accident here in the Netherlands about a year ago. A fast ferry boat and a fast water taxi collided. Multiple fatalities. Perfect weather. Both ships had all the electronic navigational equipment on board you could think of. Still, they collided because both skippers broke speed and collision prevention rules. That is an attitude problem, nothing else. You can increase fines, jail sentences, but as long as there are people out there who think the rules are not applicable to them, you are going to get fatalities due to them.

When you look into these programs in these various industries you will always find a combination of different aspects they had to address. From processes, training, tools, instructions etc. But the most important factor remains the attitude of everybody involved. If people don't agree on the goal of zero deaths you aren't going anywhere! In my offshore days, it was normal to have a few fatalities and horrendous accidents on our AHTs every year. It was just par for the course as they say. You had a dangerous job, it paid a lot. Maybe you got killed or a leg ripped off. Comes with the territory.

Let me illustrate with a few examples: One day as chief engineer on an AHT (Anchor Handling Tug) on the coast of West Africa we received a new safety instruction. Everybody working on the deck, whilst manoeuvring near or under the rig had to wear a hard hat. This was in the days that we worked the deck in shorts, rig boots and sunglasses. Nothing else. We almost had a mutiny on our hands. Everybody, including yours truly thought it was ridiculous. So we tore up the telex. Turns out, we could not ignore it. It had been mandated by the oil company that hired our AHT. We could not approach the oil rig until we complied. And our company got a very heavy fine. So from that moment on, everybody started wearing, grudgingly, hard hats. The subsequent years saw more safety measures introduced, and better equipment and everybody had to go through various training, just to be allowed on board.

When I worked in India, we took on a huge glass fibre rollout project across various (telecom circles) regions. I employed about 10.000 people digging trenches and putting fibre in. I was appalled at the total lack of even the most basic safety precautions out in the field. So we started a massive personal safety program. And as always we got a lot of pushback, not just from the various managers, but also from a lot of the workers in the field. They did not feel the need to wear safety shoes, they preferred to step into the trench on flip-flops!

We did try to improve the overall process, by introducing all kinds of machinery. We have been digging trenches all over the world. However, in certain parts of India, the then-available machines were simply not suitable for the terrain/environment. Those trenches had to be dug by hand. By a bunch of very gung-ho guys. Boy, could they swing a pick. But just like me in my younger days, they thought were invincible and felt they did not need any safety-related cuddling as they saw it.

I also got a lot of pushback from my Indian colleagues, who did not see the need and felt it would increase our cost. So from that moment onward, at every management meeting, I would show photographs of the accidents, show the images of dead colleagues, tell them who that individual was, something about his family and how he died or got disfigured. It did shut them up, but I don't think it changed their attitude perse. Luckily I was in a position where I could just push this through. The cost by the way for working safely was minute compared to all the other program costs.

Some of the responses on this thread remind me of myself 40 years ago and similar situations. Until people acknowledge that it is not normal to die on the job or the road. Or make excuses for it (it's only a small percentage) you are going to have a very tough time making any meaningful changes.

These days, all these various safety measures tend to be completely baked in many industries around the world. It never gets questioned in terms of relevance, but only in terms of how we improve any further. That is a big change of attitude! Going by some of the responses on this thread, I think India might still have a long way to go. As long as you are debating the statistics, people are still dying. And they will keep dying, until you start doing something.

When it comes to road safety, there is a huge gung-ho factor that needs to be addressed. Most male drivers feel they drive perfectly safe. Not only that, but they secretly believe they are at least as good if not better a driver as Max.

Gung-ho is a killer everywhere. Whether you fly a plane, drive a car, ride a bicycle or do some DIY on the roof of your house. And it is all between the ears, wrong attitude and a completely irrational self-esteem and self-assessment of one's capabilities and the situation at hand.

That is what gets people killed today, regardless of the level of automation (look at aviation accidents).

Jeroen

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I also got a lot of pushback from my Indian colleagues, who did not see the need and felt it would increase our cost.

This resonates so much. I participate in (a very amateur way) an adventure sport, on-and-off. As a community we try and ensure that the new amateur practitioners start correctly, by learning safety and procedures, protocols and systems till that gets 'baked in' (as you also said), before they progress to the advanced stages where unlearning becomes difficult.

Once we invited a senior participant to talk to the newbies, someone who was among those that pioneered the sport in the state and used to participate long before it had started becoming popular. To our shock, he refused to acknowledge any of the basic safety aspects, even wearing a helmet! His response: "Oh all that is for Western countries!"