Road safety

Road safety is primarily meant about the
protection and security of all those who travel
on roads. It encapsulates all-from pedestrians
to animal-drawn vehicles and from two-
wheelers to all types of multi-wheel transport.
It is a double-sided and complementary
exercise and will bear less fruit if it is minus
anyone; that is to say, everybody will have to
honour other’s rights to see his ones respected.

Road safety has many facets and pedestrian
safety is one very imperative aspect of this
subject. The importance of this can be judged
from the fact that according to our national
statistical data, out of total reported
accidents, 42 per cent involve pedestrians
one way or the other. Besides, here the share
of children is much higher in comparison to
those of adults.

This trend can be curtailed by creating awareness
about pedestrian safety through workshops and
seminars as well as educating children by
incorporating basic road-safety lessons in their
syllabus right from the outset; for example, the
‘Green cross code’ (stop, look, listen, think and
cross) and the proper way to walk on one side of
the road. Learning about traffic lights, road signs
and other rules is another valuable addition which
can contribute significantly in this regard.

At least 25 per cent of the total
number of accidents involves
motorcyclists riding without their
helmets and youths showing off by
performing stunts. The general public,
parents and youth can be briefed about
the dismal consequences of this with the
help of illustrations or documentaries.

 India with just 1% of the vehicular population accounts for 10%
of the Road Fatalities.
 A multicultural, multi-religious democracy of more than one
billion has 29 official languages.
 With its size, population, diversity, urbanization and
motorization; Road Safety is the biggest emerging challenge.
 Estimates of the annual no. of road deaths range from 750,000 to
1,183,492 – representing over 3000 lives lost daily.
 Around 85% of all global road deaths.
 95% of the DALYs lost due to crashes.
 95% of all children killed due to RTIs occur in low-middle
income countries.
 Over 50% of deaths are among young adults (15-44 yrs.)

 RTI’s are a major but neglected global public health problem.
 The number of people killed in RT crashes/year is estimated at
almost 1.2 million and the number injured could be as high as
50 million.
 Every day, almost 16,000 people die (from all types of
injuries).
 Injuries represent 12% of global burden of disease (the third
most important cause of death among 1-40 yrs. Old.)
 Death from RTI’s account for around 25% of all deaths from
injury.
 More than 1.2 million people are killed in Road Accidents,
worldwide , every year. 3 to 4 % of Gross National Product Is
lost in Road Accidents.

 Among children (5-14 yrs.) and young people
(15-29 yrs.) RTI’s are the second leading
cause of death.
 One child is killed in Road Accidents, every
three minutes in the World.

• Economic Factors such as level of economic development.
• Demographic factors such as age, gender and place of residence.
• Land use planning practices which influence how long people travel and by which means.
• Mixture of vulnerable road users and high speed motorized traffic.
• Lack of consideration of the ways in which roads will be used when determining speed limits, road design and
layout.
• Inappropriate and excessive speed.
• Presence of alcohol and other drugs.

• Fatigue.
• Being young and male.
• Being vulnerable road user in an urban or residential area.
• Traveling in darkness.
• Poor vehicle maintenance.
• Road design, layout and maintenance defects.
• Inadequate visibility due to weather conditions.
• Poor eyesight.

• Individual characteristics such as age which influence the ability of a person to tolerate a crash.
• Inappropriate and excessive speed.
• Non use of seat belts and child restraints by vehicle users.
• Non use of crash helmets by two-wheeler.
• Unforgiving roadside objects such as concrete pillars.
• Insufficient vehicle crash protection such as air bags for occupants and vehicle soft fronts for those who may be
struck by vehicles.
• Delayed crash detection and transport to a health facility.
• Rescue and evacuation.

• Lack of appropriate care prior to arriving at a health facility.
• Post collision fire.
• Leakage of hazardous material.

Types of vehicles plying on Indian roads along with their
wrong usage according to their capacity is a matter of great
concern for road safety. These vehicles create traffic chaos
and are a cause of road crashes.
Few examples are :--

Carriage of goods on Horse carts

Wrong sitting posture of a man in a goods carrier

Load volume larger than the vehicle

Labourer carrying a special ladder (Gohri) and his material on cycle

Carrying animal on a motor cycle

Jeep with over capacity of passengers

Lack of parking space alongside highways leading to parking on roads.

Presence of slums near the roads.

Selling of fruits on road side.

Sale of Jaggery near the road.

Sale of small items like tissue papers, agarbatis, Christmas caps, car shades, balloons, newspapers, magazines etc. on
traffic light.

Roads used as dumping place for construction material.

Fulfilling of myth…A Traffic hazard

Collecting donation in the name of religion
(Saturday God)

Person donating alms in name of “Saturday God”

Creating road blocks for religious functions

Devotees stopping vehicles for serving food etc.

Poor visibility and no separate pathway for pedestrians

Person carrying helmet in hand during riding

HORROR AND
DANGEROUS
ACCIDENTS TOOK
PLACE

Most important method to bring down accidents is strict enforcement of
speed limits.
90 % of accidents can be avoided by strict enforcement of speed limits.
Existing speed limits should be brought down further.
Heavy Penalty should be imposed on all those who cross speed limits. If
this is strictly implemented, nobody will dare to go at high speed.
Heavy penalty should be imposed for those who cause accidents.
Tamper proof speed controllers should be made mandatory for all heavy
vehicles. New heavy vehicles should have built in tamper proof speed
controllers.

Two wheeler manufacturers should be asked to design two wheelers with a
designed maximum speed of (say) 50/60 kmph.
( Suitable speed limit may be selected for each country.)
New gadgets are to be developed for collision prevention and should be fitted
on all vehicle. Research organizations should be asked to develop such gadgets
on a war footing. For example, gadgets can be developed to automatically slow
down the vehicle, if safe distance commensurate with the speed of the vehicle
in front is not maintained.
Diving tests for issue of Driving license is to be made more stringent and
foolproof.

Raising of lower age limit for two wheeler and Heavy Vehicle license to 21.
Helmet should be made compulsory by law in all states, OR impose a lower
speed limit for those who do not use helmet.
Helmet should be made compulsory for back seat riders also.
Ensure that all Helmet users are fixing the Chinstrap of Helmet. Otherwise it
will not help during an accident.
Ensure that ONLY good quality Helmets are available in the market.

Strict enforcement of existing traffic rules.
Law should be modified such that the person who made the accident has to bear
(say) 0 to 10 % of the insurance claims, depending on severity of negligence. Also
the compensations should be made very huge, making accidents unaffordable so
that everyone will be very vigilant.
All those who do not maintain the safe distance for the speed should be punished.
Safety awareness should begin from childhood, as it is difficult to impart
awareness to a grown up a human. If safety awareness is imparted at childhood,
safety will be a habit.

Video and Computer Games that simulate Racing should be banned by
Government OR discouraged by parents as it will develop racing habit in
children.
All sorts of Motor sports especially racing should be banned by government.
Telecast of Motor Sports and Racing also should be banned.
Racing and over speed / highly risky riding, driving by Heroes should not be
filmed in cinemas and TV serials. Government should censor such scenes.
Children below a certain age should not be permitted to do cycling in busy
roads / roads where heavy vehicles are plying.

Refreshment parlors should be made available at (say) every 50 / 100 p.m.. on
all national highways and truck / heavy vehicle drivers should be forced to
refresh by having a face wash or by having a cup of tea or coffee.
The current practice of keeping the traffic signals in standby mode during
nights and on holidays is to be reviewed and discontinued if found prudent.
Advertisement boards and other items that may obstruct visibility at
junctions, curvatures and other parts of the roads should be removed
immediately.
Ensure that the money recovered as Road Tax is fully utilized for the
construction /maintenance of roads.

Time Punching of Private buses (practiced in some states) should be
discontinued as it is forcing the drivers to go at high speed, after traffic
blocks.
TV and other media should be effectively used for Public safety awareness.
Major accidents and accident prone areas should be scientifically analyzed
.
Speed should be restricted at accident prone areas.
Stringent traffic rules should be enacted.
License of those who are involved the accidents should be suspended
immediately, at least until they prove that they are not guilty.

License of those who make serious accidents should be cancelled.
Roads should be properly maintained. Permanent contracts /
arrangements should be in place for maintaining all roads in good
condition 24 hours a day, 365 days an year. If a gutter is repaired in time
it can save a life !!!
Health of vehicles should be strictly enforced.
Eyes of old aged driving license holders should be tested periodically.
License of drunkard drivers / riders should be cancelled immediately.

Judicial Commissions should be setup to monitor steps taken to control
road accidents.
Roads should be straightened / widened wherever required.
One way traffic should be implemented as far as possible. Medians
should be constructed in roads with two way traffic.
Footpaths and medians should be made mandatory for important roads.
Zebra crossings should be provided for pedestrians for safe road
crossings at appropriate places.

Signals for road crossings at important busy places where a large
number of people have to cross the road everyday.
Roads should be properly marked. Proper sign boards should be
installed.
Humps should be provided at all important places, accident prone
areas.
Construction, size and shape of the Humps should be scientific. All
the Contractors of the Public Works / Other departments should be
provided with the details of scientific Hump construction

Humps should be clearly marked, to avoid accidents. Methods of
permanent nature should be followed in Hump marking. For
example white marble pieces / white color / fluorescent pigment can
be included in the mixture.
Provision of small pilot humps few meters before humps can also be
considered to ensure that humps are not left unnoticed.
Obstructions on road sides, caused by unauthorized construction /
road side sales should be eliminated.
Visibility should be increased near curvatures. Sometimes, even
cutting of grass to increase visibility can help save many lives.

Road Safety Day / Road Safety Week should be observed in all Schools,
every year. Competitions on Road Safety Tips, Slogans, Essay, and
Painting etc. should be conducted for various categories of students.
School Buses should be painted with Bright Yellow color.
Let ‘Road Safety’ be a mandatory topic for School Projects for all classes,
every year.
A small pool of water or a hanging branch of tree on roadsides can cause
accident, as such obstructions will make the pedestrians / drivers to take
sudden lateral (cross) movement and result in accidents. Hence any
obstruction on road sides which can cause a cross movement should be
completely rectified timely.

Black color should not be permitted for Cycles. Preferred / Default color
for Cycles should be Yellow.
Front and Back of Lorries and Trucks should be painted with bright
Yellow color to increase visibility. This will help to prevent collisions
while Lorries and Trucks are parked on roadside without parking lights
switched on.
Reflectors should be fixed on Front and Back of Trucks and Lorries.
Accident statistics should be periodically reviewed to understand the
effect of actions taken. Corrective steps should be taken based on these
reviews.

NUMBER OF DEATHS
IN DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES

ANSHUMAAN TIWARI
VIII D
COMPUTER
DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, GWALIOR
MADE BY :
CLASS:
SUBLECT:
SCHOOL:

Road safety

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