The road transport sector has assumed a pivotal role in the Indian economy. Roads in India carry an estimated 60% of freight and 80% of passengers. India has the second largest road network in the world with over 3.31 million km. The 56.5 million registered vehicles using the Indian roads have taken a heavy toll on human life. Road crashes are a growing worldwide problem. Road systems all over the world are getting increasingly congested and unsafe with every passing day. Between 1970-71 and 2001-02, the total number of registered vehicles in India has increased 31 times. However, the road length in the same period has increased by only 2.71 times. India has only about 1% of the world's vehicles but accounts for as much as 6% of the world's accidents. These crashes have a major impact on the country's economy, costing an estimated Rs. 300 bn or more than 3% of India's GDP every year. This paper highlights the issue of road safety management in the Indian context. The author discusses the gravity of the road safety problem in India, with recent trends and statistics of road accidents on the background of growth of transport infrastructure and number of vehicles. The knowledge of how accidents are caused is essential to suggest expeditious remedial action. The paper also deals with the factors causing accident and measures to secure road safety and mitigation; and focuses on areas where improvement may be needed. The road safety scenario in Gujarat and the Gujarat Government's initiatives for road safety management find a place of prominence in the paper.
Road
safety has become a major concern for the regulatory authorities in India today.
Indian road safety situation is ten times worse when compared to the developed
countries of the world, which leaves much to be done in the field of Road Safety
Management. Road safety is defined as the absence of crashes, injuries and fatalities.
The term "safety" implies that there are no occurrences of accidents.
Although undesirable, crashes and fatalities are inevitable incidents of the transportation
system. The road transportation is cursed with road accidents. A substantial accident
risk is always present in the development of transport facilities. Road crashes
are a growing worldwide problem. The road systems all over the world are getting
more and more congested and unsafe day by day. Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is
normally defined as "accident which takes place on the road between two or
more objects, one of which must be any kind of a moving vehicle." Road traffic
accidents can be called as perennial disaster, as they have claimed far more lives
than any of the natural disasters. "Accidents are not natural but they are
caused," is a common saying in the area of traffic safety. Road safety status
is the reflection of traffic culture and it is extremely poor in India. |
