[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

• 52.4% of global accidents and 63% of deaths due to road accidents happen in India. This, when the 54,72,144 km of Indian highways constitute just 4.84% of global road length.

The reality is accidents and fatalities are still very high (although the percentage quoted may be higher above).

The main reason (apart from lack of safety/road rules awareness and compliance by road users and lack of rules enforcement) is in the above statement, very less roads to use compared to the density/number of road users and resulting congestion.

What can be practically done to improve the situation ?
Short term:

1. Extremely strict law enforcement of road rules. If the police are strict and the punishment is severe, people will comply and think twice before (willfully) commiting a mistake. Zero tolerance for traffic rules offenders is the need of the hour.
   
   
2. Enforcement of high bar for clearing Driving License test. This should be the norm on an immediate basis.

Long term
These will take time both for implementation and effects to be felt:

1. Make safety and road rules awareness part of children's education curriculum. Constant public message broadcasts on all possible channels on do's and don'ts. Over a period of time safety and rules awareness levels and hopefully common-sense will improve among road users.
   
   
2. Better infrastructure (road signs, footpaths, road quality, properly designed intersections, more roads) and focus on convenient and mass public transportation.

[ssambyal1980]

Every time the road accident statistics are brought out in the public domain, the knee jerk reaction among the citizens is to criticize the authorities for the rising number of road fatalities. But nobody is ready to share the responsibility for making the roads safer. Although time and again the government has taken up slew of measures to initiate damage control but the year by year rising figures of fatalities present an altogether different picture. Any law abiding road user would agree hands down that solely the authorities cannot do anything about the problem but a cohesive effort by all the citizens would bring in the desired change.

The irresponsible behavior of road users can be judged from the following points:

1. Despite two-wheeler category being the most vulnerable lot, its quite common to see two wheeler riders zipping past without wearing safety helmets. I would site the example of Chandigarh City where traffic rules enforcement is amongst best in the country but ironically women two wheeler riders are exempted from wearing safety helmets. Despite the fact that many female two wheeler riders have died due to severe head injuries, still majority of the ladies don't care about wearing helmets.

2. Mobile phone usage by motorists while driving is another risky behavior leading to road accidents but nobody is willing to change this nasty habit. Its beyond comprehension that why can't people who have invested thousands on their smart phones can buy a small useful gadget i.e the hands free Bluetooth device to make and receive the calls? It seems that flaunting a mobile phone while driving is the new status symbol.

3. Being the slow moving traffic, the cyclists and the pedestrians make the most vulnerable lot but despite their vulnerabilities they flout the rules with impunity. Its quite common among cyclists to turn without indication and to abruptly change the lanes. Pedestrians too are at fault by remaining busy over their mobile phones while walking on the roads, totally unmindful of the scenario around. Also due to lack of knowledge regarding traffic rules most of the pedestrians can be seen crossing the roads from any point of their liking instead of using zebra crossings.

4. In today's fast paced lifestyle time is the essence but then life is more precious than time. But sadly most of the road users jumping red lights don't understand this and its not surprising that red light jumping is a major cause of accidents in most of the cities.

5. Honking without reason by motorists despite knowing that traffic will move as the per the prevailing situation also causes a lot of anxiety among fellow motorists and ultimately leads to nasty situations of road rage.

Its only when each and every road user will start realizing his/her responsibility towards other fellow road users that the roads will become safer and not to forget being courteous at all times while on road will immensely help to achieve the desired goal.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Rejoice? That fact just sent a chill into my body, the prospect of having to go out there each day to tackle these feral motorists, I may have to stop driving altogether in due course from the current 300-400 odd kms per month. Its easy to assume that most of the growth of two wheelers happened in Bangalore where every 14/15 year old is welcomed into adulthood with a bike (kind of like handing over a loaded Uzi to a monkey) and where every newly recruited engineer buys a bike on his first salary on EMI of course. ...

This is probably not the thread for details, but we could probably easily name six things not to do that would safeguard bikers limbs and life. And number seven would be to have some manners and respect for other road users, including each other.

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Oh come on it's better that than every techie who goes and buys a big Honda City/Baleno/Jazz etc. and then potters around straddling two lanes of the road paying no heed to anyone's honking ...

I think you are a little confused. Delay and frustration, dreadful through they may be, are not as serious as death.

Yes, recently I posted that questions such as where am I going, what is the meaning of life, should I have taken the last turn, really should not be considered stationary in mid road ( ). But this lack of consideration usually does not lead to accidents. And when it does, they are often of the only idiots drive straight into stationary objects kind.

It's all a matter of perspective.

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

... Its only when each and every road user will start realizing his/her responsibility towards other fellow road users that the roads will become safer and not to forget being courteous at all times while on road will immensely help to achieve the desired goal.

Quite. It is not the roads, it is the drivers.

As ever, there are exceptions, like driving off the end of an unfinished flyover where had been no barrier. And a complex intersection where the signs were not added before it opened, claimed the life of at least one biker in Chennai. But these are exceptions, not the rule. Some of our roads (I'm talking city here!) suddenly become dirt tracks: I don't think that that is an excuse for dying.

.

[simplyself]

Most wide roads do not prevent accidents if people who use them donot have sense and a cool head. Most safe cars do not bring down the number of accidents - fatalities, yes, but not the number of accidents. It's common sense which is the most lacking ingredient among us users.

We sometime moan about a badly designed road or a sudden pothole or narrow culverts on four laned roads. But if we can stay in controllable speeds, then the number of accidents could come down.

Two most common incidents of accidents on four laned highways are toppling over and back ending a stationary or stranded vehicle. Some culverts which start right at the end of bitumen too contribute to the number of accidents.

Why should a vehicle topple over? Why maintain a crazy speed which is beyond the capability of the machine or the driver or the road itself? I am not talking about a stray dog or a Buffalo or a pedestrian jumping from the median shrubs.

Same with the rear ending. One should calculate the throw of the light, our reaction time and then keep a comfortable speed.

The badly designed culverts - these narrower ones - are legacies of old highways. Many are kept the same width and a new carriageway with proper width is added on the other side.

On one particular road, almost all the gaps in the median within villages are on the bends. No wonder the rate of accidents is higher. On this same road, wherever a flyover is built, it just ends at a busy intersection. How can the engineers design them that way is beyond me.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by simplyself

Most wide roads do not prevent accidents if people who use them donot have sense and a cool head. Most safe cars do not bring down the number of accidents - fatalities, yes, but not the number of accidents. It's common sense which is the most lacking ingredient among us users. ...

I think you state the entire situation very well in that post.

If we take a number of drivers, of various vehicles, who are poorly trained and skilled and have regular accidents at speeds of, say 60kph or less, then what will happen to those drivers when we put them on tarmac that appears to be "safe" for triple-digit speeds?

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by simplyself

Most wide roads do not prevent accidents if people who use them donot have sense and a cool head. Most safe cars do not bring down the number of accidents - fatalities, yes, but not the number of accidents. It's common sense which is the most lacking ingredient among us users.

Absolutely couldn't agree more. Despite the advent of safe cars its the lack of common sense and patience on the part of drivers which are escalating the road fatality figures every year. No matter how safe the car is in terms of crash worthiness along with presence of safety features in it, it will still remain highly unsafe until its occupants make correct use of seat belts which is the primary and key restraint system. Not wearing seat belts results in a number of fatalities in road crashes even in today's era of safe cars.

Also over speeding is another root cause of avoidable road crashes wherein impatience and lack of proper judgement on the part of driver are the culprits. No matter how much safe and wide the roads become, driving within specified speed limits is what prevents the situation from turning nastier. Over speeding during the night time is a sure recipe for disaster as the darkness impairs judgement thus increasing the reaction time of the driver. The speed limit which is safe during the day time may not be that comfortable during the night hours, therefore its safer to drive at least 10-20 km/h slower than the prescribed limit during night time. Not to forget most of the rear end collisions on highways happen during the night time.

[simplyself]

An editorial says the NHs which are just 2% of total roads contribute 30% of accidents. 80 % are due to the negligence of drivers. Apart from the obvious factor of lack of helmet contributing to most of the deaths on two wheelers, mobile phone contributed significantly to the deaths.

Irony is, despite the 4 % reduction in number of accidents, number of deaths increased.

Gadkari says the govt will step in with 12,000 crores to improve roads, identify badly designed spots and rectify them, put up barricades and sign boards etc.

Now what is remaining is an effort to drill common sense into the users.

[Thad E Ginathom]

While they spend the money on roads, rather than driver education, testing and enforcement, nothing will improve.

How can they do badly fail to see this?

[ssambyal1980]

Punjab registers increase in deaths due to drunken driving.

The number of deaths in road accidents due to drunken driving in the state of Punjab has doubled in 2016 as compared with the figures for the previous year. The state has also earned the dubious distinction of being second in the nation on the accident severity (number of persons killed per 100 crashes) due to drunken driving in 2016.

Mr. Harman Sidhu, president of NGO Arrive Safe, on whose petition the Punjab and Haryana High Court banned liquor vends along highways in March 2016, said the poor implementation and circumvention of the ban led to increase in deaths due to drunken driving in Punjab.

The state of Haryana, on the other hand, recorded a fall in such deaths in 2016. The fatalities came down from 478 in 2015 to 165 in 2016, registering a reduction of 65.5 per cent. This has been possible owing to Haryana's sincere efforts in implementing the ban on drunken driving.

However, to evade court orders, Punjab amended its Excise Policy on liquor in March 2016 permitting liquor vends to operate on the highways passing through municipal limits. According to the report, the number of such deaths increased in Punjab from 91 in 2015 to 197 in 2016—increase of 116.4 per cent. Cases of injuries also went up by 225.8 per cent.

Bihar, which prohibited liquor in April 2016, reported 14 per cent decline in road crashes and 9.5 per cent in fatalities as compared to 2015.

Quoting information procured under RTI from the Excise Department, the number of liquor vends in Punjab went up two times in the past decade from 5,632 liquor vends in 2005-06 to 12,000 in 2016-17.

[Col Mehta]

Just posted this video where a young kid is driving a full-sized truck on some highway. No wonder with instances like these, India records one of highest number of road accidents and fatalities .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...k-highway.html

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

Just posted this video where a young kid is driving a full-sized truck on some highway. No wonder with instances like these, India records one of highest number of road accidents and fatalities .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...k-highway.html

Thank you sir for sharing the video which brings to fore one among many gross violations of traffic rules taking place on country's roads on daily basis. It shocking beyond words to see such a young kid driving truck on highway and equally appalling is to see the driver and other people on board the truck sitting complacent as if nothing unusual is taking place.

In such a scenario the blame entirely lies on the truck driver and also the owner who allow such things to happen. Trucking in India is a profession which is not at all taken seriously by the authorities largely due the fact that most of the people employed in trucking business come from economically weaker sections of society and are mostly either illiterates or semi literates. The way the heavy vehicle commercial licenses are made is also at the root of the problem. Unemployed youth coming from villages who are in a desperate need of some work 'procure' HTV licenses through dubious means without having any substantial driving experience beforehand. And expecting responsible behaviour on roads from such rookies is a far cry. In fact majority of the heavy commercial vehicle licenses have been found to be fake. Licensing procedure needs total overhaul to bring in the desired change.

Regards

[prasadee]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

So you don't think Indian road fatalities are a touch high, be it relative or absolute or by any standards for that matter?
Jeroen

That is not what I meant. I expect the accidents per man hour (spent in/on a vehicle) to be higher in India than anywhere else. If you look at accidents per thousand people, the people who do not have to commute, or access to vehicles will pad the stats to be meaningless.

The %age fatalities probably relates to the quality of first responders, and use of safety equipment like helmets and seatbelts.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

So you don't think Indian road fatalities are a touch high, be it relative or absolute or by any standards for that matter?

Jeroen

I think what he may be implying is that for 17% of the worlds population, India has only 11% of worlds accident deaths. So on an average Indian roads are safer

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

. So on an average Indian roads are safer

That's alright than, nothing to worry about or to improve?

Jeroen

[Col Mehta]

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

In such a scenario the blame entirely lies on the truck driver and also the owner who allow such things to happen. Trucking in India is a profession which is not at all taken seriously by the authorities largely due the fact that most of the people employed in trucking business come from economically weaker sections of society and are mostly either illiterates or semi literates. The way the heavy vehicle commercial licenses are made is also at the root of the problem. Unemployed youth coming from villages who are in a desperate need of some work 'procure' HTV licenses through dubious means without having any substantial driving experience beforehand. And expecting responsible behaviour on roads from such rookies is a far cry. In fact majority of the heavy commercial vehicle licenses have been found to be fake. Licensing procedure needs total overhaul to bring in the desired change.

Regards

Couldn't agree more. From revisiting the entire system of issuing license to making sure heavy penalties are in place for such violators would bring in much needed checks to make our roads 'civilized'. Thanks!