Traffic collisions in India are a major source of deaths, injuries and property damage every year. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021 report states that there were 155,622 fatalities, highest since 2014, out of which 69,240 deaths were due to two-wheelers. A study by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, U.S. shows that the use of seat belts significantly reduces the risks and injuries from road accidents, and yet there is no enforcement on use of seat belts in cars. A study by IIT Delhi points out that the national highways constitute only 2% of the length of roads in India, but they account for 30.3% of total road accidents and 36% of deaths. [2] [3]
The NCRB data for 2021 shows 17,993 accidents in Indian Railways, a rise in 38% compared to the year 2020, with most accidents in Maharashtra. [4]
According to the 2013 global survey of traffic collisions by the UN World Health Organization, India suffered a road fatality rate of 16.6 per 100,000 people in 2013. [5] India's average traffic collision fatality rate was similar to the world average rate of 17.4 deaths per 100,000 people, less than the low-income countries which averaged 24.1 deaths per 100,000, and higher than the high-income countries which reported the lowest average rate of 9.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2013. [6] [7]
Year | Total Number of Road Accidents (in numbers) | Change | Total Number of Persons Killed (in numbers) | Change | Total Number of Persons Injured (in numbers) | Change |
2015 | 501,423 | 146,133 | 500,279 | |||
2016 | 480,652 | -4.14 | 150,785 | 3.18 | 494,624 | -1.13 |
2017 | 464,910 | -3.28 | 147,913 | -1.90 | 470,975 | -4.78 |
2018 | 467,044 | 0.46 | 151,417 | 2.37 | 469,418 | -0.33 |
2019 | 449,002 | -3.86 | 151,113 | -0.20 | 451,361 | -3.85 |
Total in last five years | 2,363,031 | 747,361 | 2,386,657 | |||
Average | 472,606 | 149,472 | 477,331 |
Tamil Nadu records the highest road collisions for a decade and its capital Chennai has more collisions than any other city in India. The city has had the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of death from road accidents globally from as far back as the 1960s at a time when the number of vehicles in the city was a minuscule fraction of that in larger metropolises of the world such as New York and Tokyo. [9] In New Delhi, the capital of India, the frequency of traffic collisions is 40 times higher than the rate in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. [10]
Traffic collision-related deaths increased from 13 per hour in 2008 to 14 per hour in 2009. [ citation needed ] In 2015, 15 people per hour die due to road accident according to NGO 'Indians for Road Safety'. [11]
More than 40% of these casualties are associated with motorcycles and trucks. In India, there are 295 million cars in 2019, 272 million in 2018, according to Transport Ministry data. [12]
The most collision-prone time on Indian roads is during the peak hour at afternoon and evening. [13]
According to road traffic safety experts, the actual number of casualties may be higher than what is documented, as many traffic collisions go unreported. Moreover, victims who die some time after the collision, a span of time which may vary from a few hours to several days, are not counted as car crash victims. [13]
The Planning Commission in its 2001–2003 research estimated that traffic collision resulted in an annual monetary loss of $10 billion (INR 550 billion) during the years 1999–2000. In 2012, the International Road Federation (IRF) estimated that traffic collision results in an annual monetary loss of $20 billion (INR 1 trillion (short scale)) in India. This figure includes expenses associated with the collision victim, property damage and administration expenses. [14]
The "GlobStatus Report on Road Safety" published by the World Health Organization (WHO) identified the major causes of traffic collisions as driving over the speed limit, driving under the influence, and not using helmets and seat belts. [13] Failure to maintain lane or yield to oncoming traffic, when turning are prime causes of collisions on four lane, non-access controlled National Highways. The report noted users of motorcycles and motor-powered three-wheelers constitute the second largest group of traffic collision deaths. [15]
Road safety is emerging as a major social concern in the country and the Indian government has been attempting to tackle this crucial issue for several years. The Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 was to provide a framework for safer, faster, cost-effective and inclusive movement of passengers and freight in India. In July 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government will soon introduce laws to enhance road safety as traffic fatalities and injuries mount. [16] A new Road Transport and Safety Bill is under preparation and a group of experts underlined the "urgent" need of a comprehensive national road safety legislation. [17]
Embarq India, an initiative from the World Resources Institute (WRI), [18] has developed significant expertise in conducting road safety audits on a number of bus rapid transit systems in India. Arrive SAFE is a NGO who works as a pressure group to give a wake-up call to authorities concerned and shake the bad driving habits of Indian people. [19] Indian driving schools focus on youth to enhance the art and skill of efficient driving. [20]
Maruti Suzuki closely works with Ministry of Tribal Development in Gujarat to train young people in driving.
Michelin, co-founder of the Global Road Safety Initiatives (GRSI), has established, in India, an innovative partnership with the foundation of PVR Cinemas, PVR Nest as part of its CineArt "Steer to Safety" program to educate and empower children about road safety. Through this platform, children learn how to prevent and/or manage in emergency situations on Indian roads.
Henkel has launched a road safety initiative in an effort to address the topical issue of safety standards on the road in India.
The Campaign Against Drunken Driving (CADD) is an organization founded by Prince Singhal which is campaigning against driving under the influence. But this campaign has been ineffective. [13] The IRF asserts that people in India's political sphere do not have the will to curb traffic collisions. Harman Singh Siddhu of ArriveSafe, an organization working for improvement in road traffic safety, asserted that a general lack of respect for traffic rules in India is a contributing factor for road collisions. [21] He also has pointed out that although the 2010s was declared by the United Nations as "Decade of Action for Road Safety", no celebration was held in India. [14] CSIR - Central Road Research Institute has developed an online accident recording portal. The main purpose of this portal is to encourage people to report the collisions they see. A group of Indian Researchers have developed a low-cost device which prevents automobile drivers from receiving or making cellphone calls when at wheel, but allows calls to other passengers in the vehicle. [22]
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed – expressed as kilometres per hour (km/h) and/or miles per hour (mph). Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of national or provincial governments and enforced by national or regional police and judicial authorities. Speed limits may also be variable, or in some places nonexistent, such as on most of the Autobahnen in Germany.
Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road public transport.
Rumble strips are a road safety feature to alert inattentive drivers of potential danger, by causing a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the vehicle interior. A rumble strip is applied along the direction of travel following an edgeline or centerline, to alert drivers when they drift from their lane. Rumble strips may also be installed in a series across the direction of travel, to warn drivers of a stop or slowdown ahead, or of an approaching danger spot.
Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cyclist in an adjacent travel lane. The width of the door zone in which this can happen varies, depending upon the model of car one is passing. The zone can be almost zero for a vehicle with sliding or gull-wing doors or much larger for a truck. In many cities across the globe, doorings are among the most common and injurious bike-vehicle incidents. Any passing vehicle may also strike and damage a negligently opened or left open door, or injure or kill the exiting motorist or passenger.
Motorcycle safety is the study of the risks and dangers of motorcycling, and the approaches to mitigate that risk, focusing on motorcycle design, road design and traffic rules, rider training, and the cultural attitudes of motorcyclists and other road users.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
This is a list of numbers of motorcycle deaths in U.S. by year from 1994 to 2014. United States motorcycle fatalities increased every year for 11 years after reaching a historic low of 2,116 fatalities in 1997, then increased to over 5,000 around 2008 and then plateaued in the 4 to 5 thousands range in the 2010s. In nine years motorcycle deaths more than doubled from the late 1990s to 2008. Despite providing less than 1% of miles driven, they made up 15% of traffic deaths in 2012.
Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents yearly killing from 32,479 to nearly 38,680 (+19%) in the last decade. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.
Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have been criticized for a variety of environmental and safety-related reasons. They generally have poorer fuel efficiency and require more resources to manufacture than smaller vehicles, thus contributing more to climate change and environmental degradation. Their higher center of gravity significantly increases their risk of rollovers. Their larger mass increases their momentum, which results in a larger braking distance and more damage to other road users in collisions. Their higher front-end profile reduces visibility and makes them at least twice as likely to kill pedestrians they hit. Additionally, the psychological sense of security they provide influences drivers to drive less cautiously or rely on their car for their perceived safety, rather than their own driving.
86 percent of people in the United States use private automobiles as their primary form of transportation to their workplace.
Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a roadway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. It started in Sweden and was approved by their parliament in October 1997. A core principle of the vision is that "Life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within the society" rather than the more conventional comparison between costs and benefits, where a monetary value is placed on life and health, and then that value is used to decide how much money to spend on a road network towards the benefit of decreasing risk.
Road traffic collisions generally fall into one of five common types:
A traffic collision, also called a motor vehicle collision, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The commonly used term car accident is increasingly falling out of favor with many government departments and organizations, with the Associated Press style guide recommending caution before using the term.
Worldwide it was estimated that 1.25 million people were killed and many millions more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2013. This makes motor vehicle collisions the leading cause of death among young adults of 15–29 years of age and the ninth most frequent cause of death for all ages worldwide. In the United States, 40,100 people died and 2.8 million were injured in crashes in 2017, and around 2,000 children under 16 years old die every year.
Road speed limits in the United Kingdom are used to define the maximum legal speed for vehicles using public roads in the UK.
Vehicular suicide is the use of a motor vehicle to intentionally cause one's own death.
Road collisions in Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, are among the highest in India. In 2013, the state recorded 15,563 fatalities in the 14,504 recorded collisions, the highest for any state in India. The state also topped the list of most collisions in a state for all previous 18 years from 2002 to 2020. According to the report of two experts published in the International Journal of Research in Management and Technology, driving under the influence of alcohol accounts for 82 per cent of collision fatalities in India. A few political leaders have vehemently opposed the state-run TASMAC shops that sell alcohol and have called for a total prohibition of alcohol in the state, but opposing governments have maintained that prohibition would lead to illegal liquor, which in the past has claimed hundred of lives. The increase in number of vehicles from 82 lakh in 2007 to 1.6 crore in 2012 without appreciable change in the road infrastructure is also believed to the reason for most collisions.
Road safety in Europe encompasses transportation safety among road users in Europe, including automobile accidents, pedestrian or cycling accidents, motor-coach accidents, and other incidents occurring within the European Union or within the European region of the World Health Organization. Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured.
Tables A2 & A10, data from 2013