The death of senior cabinet minister Gopinath Munde in a car crash in Delhi has once again brought into sharp focus the alarming number of fatalities on Indian roads with little thought on safety. If one takes into account the number casualties in the country every year on account of road mishaps, almost half the equivalent population of some countries like Iceland or the Maldives is wiped out on Indian roads every year.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), as many as many as 461 people died and 1,301 more were injured "every day" from traffic accidents in the country during 2012. This makes it 19 deaths every hour or more than one death every three minutes.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India accounts for the highest number of deaths in road accidents followed by China with 97,551, the US with 41,292 and Russia with 37,349 have much lower deaths on their roads but with much more cars. Worldwide, over 1.4 million lives are lost annually; India is contributing 11% to it.
In sheer numbers, as many as 168,301 people died in the country in 2012 from traffic accidents with road accidents accounting for 139,091 - this is almost half the population of countries like Iceland and the Maldives.
According to the WHO, the road traffic injuries are the sixth leading cause of death in India. With the death of Munde in the road mishap, the issue of road safety in the country has once again gained currency.
However, the road safety can only be improved when we understand the causes and consequences of road accidents/collisions so as to work out remedial measures. Hope our new Union surface transport minister will look into the issue of road safety on priority basis to reverse the growing trend of road fatalities in our country.
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