Is Safety A Myth In India?

By: Basant Tanwar, Bureau Chief-ICN Haryana

NEW DELHI: The condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss. 2 : a device (as on a weapon or a machine) designed to prevent inadvertent or hazardous operation. The above definition of word “safety” can be pulled out by searching the meaning of safety in Google however it takes years to understand the implication and advantage of being safe. India has celebrated 70 years of Independence but we still struggling to understand this simple meaning of safety.

Many readers must be reading this article from a perspective of political agenda or creating a thought that how government failed them to provide a safe environment after these many years of independence but have you ever thought that the My safety should not become a liability of any institute, organization or any government directly however the attitude of being safe is need to have the responsibility of safety with self-first, then only, we would be able to view the holistic pictures of safety process and would be able to understand the safety process from in & out.

Safety is not as simple word as we read this and cognize the simple meaning this word. If we read that phrase of safety, the meaning “designed” remind me another aspect in the safety. Safety is a complex process which required a huge responsibility & commitment from all stakeholders. To understand this in simple language, Government & myself (me, I & myself is referring readers here) are the major stakeholder of this process. The complete process will collapsed even one stakeholder failed to contribute and this is what happening in India on every day.

As per the 2016 report of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Transport Research Wing, New Delhi, 17 person are dying on Indian roads in every one hour and this number is growing consistently year on year. During the calendar year of 2016 , the total number of road accidents is reported at 4,80,652 causing injuries to 4,94,624 persons and claiming 1,50,785 lives in the country. This would translate, on an average, into 1317 accidents and 413 accident death taking place on Indian roads every day; or 55 accidents and 17 deaths every hour whereas the number of fatal accident, i.e., accident in which at least one victim dies, has increased consistently since 2005 and seen a sharp rise from 1,31,726 in 2015 to 1,36,071 in 2016. Consequently, accident severity expressed in terms of number of person killed per 100 accidents, has gone up from 29.1 in 2015 to 31.4 in 2016.

Government of India report shows 18-35 years contribute 46.3 % & 18-45 years age share the 68.6% of these accidents. Few data base of the report shows, 37% accident occur on junction point, alcohol/drugs share 3.7% mobile phone approx. 1%, overloading 12.8%. You will be surprised to know that the maximum accident occurs in the month of May & March between 1500hrs to 2100hrs.

Few other analysis of the report as highlighted:-  

Total number of Road Accidents, Number of persons killed and injured based on Junction Type (2016)

About 37 per cent of total accidents took place on the junctions itself during the calendar year 2016 as against 49 per cent reported during 2015. The highest number of accidents occurred at TJunctions during the calendar year 2016 causing 63,243 accidents with a share of 35.9 percent of the total road accidents on Junctions. The details regarding total accidents,

Based on Accidents classified in terms of Involved Vehicle Type

Amongst the motorized vehicle categories, twowheelers accounted for the highest share in total road accidents (33.8 per cent) in 2016 followed by cars, jeeps and taxis (23.6 per cent), trucks, tempos, tractors and other articulated vehicles (21.0 per cent), Buses( 7.8 per cent), Auto-Rickshaws (6.5 per cent) and Other motor vehicles (2.8 per cent). Share of two wheelers in total road accidents has increased 28.8 per cent in 2015 and 33.8 per cent in 2016. Next to two wheelers, share of cars, jeeps and taxis whose share was 23.6 per cent in 2015, remained same in 2016. Two wheelers also accounted for the highest proportion of persons killed (29.4 per cent) out of the total number of persons killed in the country during the calendar year 2016 followed by the category of trucks, tempos, tractors and other Articulated vehicles which accounted for the share of 26. 2 per cent. Non-motorised vehicles & other objects have a share of 4.5 per cent of total road accidents and 6.4 per cent of persons killed during 2016

Persons killed in Road Accidents in terms of Road User Categories

ROAD SAFETY INITIATIVES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

1. The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc.
2. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.
3. The Ministry has requested all States/UTs to constitute State Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees, and to hold their meetings regularly.
4. The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E’s viz. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care.
5. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
6. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has been taken up.
7. High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national highways. Around 700 such black spots have been identified for improvement.
8. The threshold for four laning of national highway has been reduced from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs. About 52,000 Km of stretches of State Highways has been identified for conversion to national highways.
9. Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.
10. Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media.
11. Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts and anti-lock braking system. 
12. Providing cranes and ambulances to various State Governments under the National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme for development on National Highways. National Highways Authority of India also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 Km.
13. To protect the Good Samaritans from harassment on the actions being taken by them to save the life of the road accident victims, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways have issued guidelines vide Notification dated 12th May, 2015 to be followed by hospitals, police and all other authorities for the protection of Good Samaritan. Further, Ministry has also issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the examination of Good Samaritans by the Police or during trial vide notification dated 21.01.2016. Both the guidelines have been mandated by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India with slight modifications. Now people must not hesitate to help the road accident victims to reach the nearest hospital, in case they come across one.
14. Road safety activities have also been included in schedule (vii) of the companies Act, 2013. The companies may now be able to undertake road safety related activities under CSSR.
15. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has introduced Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Lok Sabha in August 2016 containing the different provisions of road safety. The Bill addresses road safety issues by providing for stricter penalties for traffic offences, permitting electronic and IT enabled enforcement, improving fitness certification and licensing regime, statutory provision for protection of good Samaritans etc.
16. The House referred the Bill to Standing Committee. Based on the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Bill was revised and introduced in Lok Sabha in April 2017. Lok Sabha has passed the Bill. The Bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha.
17. Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 also envisage the creation of National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board (NRSTMB). To Be Continued…..