India has the highest road traffic accident rate worldwide with over 140,000 deaths annually, beating even China. Every hour, nearly 14 lives are lost due to road accidents in India. More than 40% of the deaths are caused by trucks and two-wheelers. Most accidents occur in the afternoons and during peak hours (especially in the evening) considered an ‘unsafe’ or dangerous time to be on the road. In 67% of these accidents there is head injury. Most people do not wear seat belts or those on two wheelers do not wear a helmets – though it is compulsory in many states of the country. Our traffic conditions are chaotic, the rules are broken all the time and we have no traffic sense. All this reflects in the number of fatal accidents that occur in India. Road traffic accidents have come down in most western countries due to strict adherence to traffic rules and stringent penalties. Low and middle income countries face the brunt of 90% of fatal road accidents, according to the WHO mortality statistics. Poor road planning and inadequate protection to pedestrians and cyclists cause road mishaps, besides human error. The statistics reveal that:
The number of total accidents reported in 2010 was 499,628. After a moderate increase of 0.35% during 2009, the number of accidents reported during 2010 showed a growth of 2.72% as compared with accidents reported in the year 2009. More than 1.2 million people are killed in Road Accidents worldwide, every year.
The number of persons killed, increased by 7% during 2010 in comparison to 4.8% during 2009.
The number of persons injured which had recorded a decline of 1.5% during 2009, increased by 2.3% during 2010.
The total number of road accidents, injuries and deaths increased at CAGR of 2.5%,
3 to 4 % of Gross National Product is lost in Road Accidents.
One child is killed in Road Accidents, every three minutes in the World.
Total worldwide death toll of Tsunami of 2004 was about 230,000.
But the annual worldwide death toll of Road Accidents is 1,200,000!!! i.e., more than five times the Tsunami toll.
The Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for about 16 percent of the motor vehicles worldwide, is the site of 44 percent of all traffic deaths. China, with 71,495 deaths, and India, with 59,927 deaths, had the most traffic fatalities in the world in 1995. The rate of deaths to crashes is 2,000 for every 10,000 in Vietnam. In developing countries, the costs of motor vehicle accidents represent three to five percent of the GDP. The estimated yearly cost of motor vehicle accidents in developing countries exceeds US$ 100 billion.
Accidents are quite common on Indian Roads. According to figures by the Road Safety Cell of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, there were 3.9 lakh accidents in 2000; 78,911 were killed and 3,99,265 injured. Moreover, with the rapid urbanization, India has seen an un-precedented growth of motor vehicles. Currently, motor vehicle accidents rank ninth in order of disease burden and are projected to be ranked third in the year 2020. Worldwide, the number of people killed in road traffic crashes each year is estimated at almost 1.2 million, while the number injured could be as high as 50 million. In India, over 80,000 persons die in the traffic crashes annually, over 1.2 million are injured seriously and about 3,00,000 disabled permanently.
Unlike advanced countries which have a set-up, where data is available easily, in India, we just compile statistics but have no data. India has, over the years, emerged as the world’s road deaths capital with fatalities skyrocketing by 40 percent in five years. There should be an improvement in signs and lane markings, and surveillance cameras should be installed, besides controlling speed.
The United Nations has rightly proclaimed 2011-20 as the decade of action on road safety and have called upon all member countries to prepare a decadal action plan for implementation in their respective countries, so that the present rising trend of road accidents stabilizers and is reversed by the year 2020.