The problem of increasing road accidents in India has to be solved immediately.

Today, not a single day passes without a road accident in one or the other part of the country. In which many people had to lose their lives. Roads, which are considered a symbol of development, are becoming synonymous with destruction. According to the World Health Organisation, at least one out of 10 people killed in road accidents across the world is from India. The statistics of road accidents in India show that in the year 2021, more than 1.55 lakh people have died in road accidents in the country. This figure is an average of 426 people per day or 18 people every hour. According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, apart from the 4.03 lakh road accident deaths across the country last year, 3.71 lakh people were also injured.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on accidental deaths in the country, road accident cases increased from 3,64,796 in 2020 to 4,03,116 in 2021. There has been a 16.8% increase in deaths. In 2020, 1,33,201 and in 2021, 1,55,622 people lost their lives in road accidents. Also, the death rate per thousand vehicles in 2021 has increased from 0.45 in 2020 to 0.53 in 2021. The analysis shows that most of the road accidents are caused due to over speeding.

The amendment made in the Motor Vehicle Act in the country came into force from 1 September 2019. Its purpose was to make road traffic safe in the country and reduce the number of people killed in road accidents. About 26 per cent of road accidents in India are due to dangerous or reckless driving or overtaking. Lockdown was imposed across the country to prevent the Kovid-19 epidemic. It saved the lives of about 20,000 people in road accidents. From April to June 2020, 20 thousand 732 people died in road accidents. While in 2019, between April and June, 41 thousand 32 people lost their lives in road accidents.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India’s highway infrastructure will be at par with the US by 2024. For which work is going on in a time bound mission mode and Green Expressway and Rail Over Bridge are being constructed. He said that Bharatmala 2 is likely to get cabinet nod soon and once that is done it will meet the requirements of a strong infrastructure in the country. Gadkari said that I am sure that by 2024 India’s highways will be at par with America’s. Work is underway in a time-bound mission mode to build a robust infrastructure including a network of green expressways across the length and breadth of India. Gadkari hoped that by 2025, road accidents and deaths due to them would come down by 50 per cent.

Gadkari says that to curb fatal road accidents, states should use a part of the Central Road Fund and repair accident spots. He said that we are trying to reduce the number of accidents not only on National Highways but also on State Highways. Road safety committees should be formed in the districts. Which should be presided over by senior MPs and District Magistrates should be made their secretaries. This committee should look into all aspects of the accident at the district level.

The government is working fast to reduce road accidents and deaths. For this, policy reforms and safe systems are being adopted. Several steps have been taken towards achieving the vision of zero accident on Indian roads by 2030. According to Gadkari, the government will spend Rs 14,000 crore to identify the accident-prone areas on the road and to solve it. Most of the accidents happen at the curves of the road like T Junction and T Y. Out of the total accidents across the country, 37 percent of the accidents happen at those intersections and turns. Nearly 60 per cent of them were recorded at T and T Y junctions. The biggest reason for this is the fault of the drivers. Exceeding the speed limit, drunken driving, overtaking and talking on mobile are some of the mistakes. Due to which a large number of road accidents are happening. Drivers are at fault behind 84 percent of the total road accidents.

The public transport system in the cities is completely dependent on the city bus services. Most of the buses are old. It has been revealed in many studies that in order to run the public transport system of the cities smoothly, we need many times more buses than the buses currently running on the roads. Due to road accidents, the source of income of the families is often damaged and their daily employment is snatched away. The concerned family has financial problems. People who survive in road accidents also have to spend huge amount for their treatment. Although the Motor Vehicle Act of 2019 provides financial help to the victims of road accidents through insurance. But this law does not compensate for the mental damage caused to the victims of road accidents.

According to the International Road Federation, road accidents in India cause a loss of about $ 20 billion annually. The pressure of vehicles on the roads of the country is increasing. Appropriate steps should be taken to control it. Along with this, the safety standards of vehicles should be checked from time to time. Awareness campaigns related to road safety should be conducted in schools. Strictness should be exercised in the process of giving permits to heavy vehicles and public transport. Eligibility for driving license should also be decided. Along with this, driving of small children and teenagers should be strictly prohibited. Strict action should be taken against high speed, those who do not use safety belts and those who drive after drinking alcohol. Only then the accidents happening continuously on the roads in the country will be stopped.

Ramesh Saraf Dhamora

(The author is a freelance journalist accredited by the Government of Rajasthan. His articles are published in many newspapers and magazines of the country.)