In January 2016, in 3688 road accidents, 420 people died! This is an all time record of deaths in one month in Kerala.
Do you think it is war and terrorism that takes the most of human lives? Wrong! It is road accidents! Shocked to see this figure, I wish to reproduce below the Project I recently presented before the King's College London, for which I received the Chevening Fellowship.
INCLUSIVE ROAD SAFETY
‘Out of this
nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety’- Shakespeare
Every year globally, nearly 1.35 million
people- a majority of them pedestrians and two-wheeler riders- die and around
50 million people suffer injuries which account for an important cause of
disability, in road traffic accidents. [1]‘Road accidents are the
major cause of death in children below the age of 14 and the top cause of death
in people between the age of 15’-29 as reported by the World Report on Child
Injury Prevention published by UNICEF in 2011 and the UN Global status report
on road safety in 2015. [2]It isestimated that over
260,000 children die and around 400,000 children get orphaned inroad accidents
every year. Even in the USA and European Union countries, where road traffic deaths
are not as alarming as in other countries, one out of five child deaths is
caused by road accidents. It is again pertinent to note that [3]’90% of accidents occur in
South East Asian Countries, Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions which have
less than two-thirds of the world’s vehicle population’. The rapid increase in
vehicle growth without improving the road infrastructure or planning for better
transportation is one of the reasons for increasing trend in road accident
deaths, but the main reason is still attributed to the state’s lack of a
sustainable and inclusive road safety policy. Economically, road accidents and
deaths are calculated to affect 3% of the global GNP totalling over 500 million
dollars according to [4]the annual report of USA National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Road Safety and Annual Report of IRTAD
of OECD and Gov. of UK Dept. for Transport.
The UNRSC (United Nations Road Safety
Collaboration) set up in 2004 under the World Health Organisation has been
involving international organisations, governments, public and private sector
entities as well as NGOs in various road safety mechanisms over the years since
its existence but the situation has hardly changed even after five years of
review of the global scenario of road traffic accidents. In this light, the
resolution 64/2551 of the UN Secretary General in 2010 mandated the countries
to observe ten years from 2011 to 2020 as the ‘UN Decade of Action’ for road
safety, with the goal of stabilizing and reducing road fatalities throughout
the world through increased activities to be conducted at regional, national
and global levels. The UNRSC in its report in 2012 identified [5]‘the four pillars for
evolving road safety strategies which later came to be known as the four Es of
road safety- Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Emergency care’. The
results of the last five years of this decade of action plan for road safety
activities are far disappointing. And now it is time to add one more pillar to
it, environment, since if these four pillars rest on the unstable ground, it
may well collapse.
[6]‘The
United Kingdom has one of
the best records of road safety in the world’, according to the policy document
on road safety published by the department for transport in the UK in its
annual report of 2014. The total length of highways in England, Scotland and
Wales is24,076 kilometres and over 85% of all road transport is concentrated on
this road, as per the data available in this paper.The roads and bridges are
planned, built, maintained and operated with the utmost safety standards in
place and the Transport Research Laboratory monitors road engineering through
the various road condition indicator codes, tools and surveys.Use of
technology-oriented enforcement throughcameras, interceptors and radar surveillance,
traffic calming and control systems, pedestrian assistance and crossing
systems, separate and dedicated lanes for different types of vehicles, bicycles
and pedestrians, structured digital signage and direction boards, mandatory
tracking and security system in vehicles (Tachometer, GPS etc.), standardised driving
licence testing system,safety standards for vehicles and its passengers, yearly
checking of vehicles (MOT), dedicated parking places and the way the
enforcement as well as awareness campaigns such as [7]‘Think!’ are outsourced are
worth emulating in countries like India where accidents are very high.The
public transport system in the UK, especially the cities is one of the best in
the world which has reduced the use of private vehicles. The fairly well laid
out guidelines and assessments of safety audit system by the [8]‘Chartered Institution of
Highways and Transportation’, (CIHT) a society for planning, design,
construction, maintenance and operation of road transport in the UK is often
referred as a reference book for road safety management in other countries. [9]UK is also one of the
safest EU countries for road users with road mortality lower than 40 deaths per
million inhabitants.
[10]Great Britain also has the best and fastest emergency
and trauma-care with most of the hospitals having A&E departments
functioning 24/7.The 999 ambulances reach the crash scene within 5 to 10
minutes of receiving intimation. It was however reported in the [11]‘Accident and Emergency
Statistics- briefing paper no. 6964 of 17th July 2015’ that there
was 9% increase of attendees in A&E in 2014/15 compared to 2009/10 and on a
daily basisemergency admissions were 11,044 compared to 9,397, five years back.
It was also found that a majority of attendees at A&E are children below
the age of 14. Till the end of December
2014, there were 35.6 million vehicles registered in the UK, which was 9%
higher compared to 2013 according to the Vehicle Licensing Statistics, 2014,
Government of UK Department for Transport. [12]The annual report of road
casualties in Great Britain on 2014 shows that in 194,477 road accidents, 1775
people of which three-quarters were pedestrians, died and 22,807 were seriously
injured in 2014 which was 5.4% higher than in 2013. The traffic accidents and
fatalities which have beenreducing up to 2013 since 1997showed an increase of 5
and 4% respectively in 2014, despite all this.
In Indiathere
are no uniform road safety policies or standard procedures for traffic control.
Imported and costly vehicles co-exist with stray animals, pedestrians, bullock
carts and non-motorised transport on the roads where footpaths, parking areas,
places of worshipand market places merge with roads. Consequently, traffic is
in total chaos. [13]In
2004, the total number of registered automobiles was around 72 million but it grew
to 189 million in 2014, more than double in ten years as revealed in the data
files of the Central Transport Department.This is almost five times higher than
the total vehicle population in the UK. The National and State highways in
India is the second largest in the world with 3.3 million km which is 200 times
more than in the UK. But the roads and traffic management systems have not
changed much in these ten years leading to erratic driving patterns and heavy congestions
on the roads. On an average, nearly 450,000 serious road accidents occur a year
in India claiming around 170,000 lives and injuring over 480,000 people. It is
estimated that daily around 16 children lose their lives on the roads. [14]In 2014, according to
official statistics of the National Highway Authority of India,there were
141,526 deaths due to road accidents compared to 137,423 in 2013, which showed
an increase of 2.9%.
A comparative figure of Road Accidents
and deaths from 2012 to 2014 in the 10 states in India where the highest number
of accidents were reported for the last three years since 2012 is given below.
STATES
|
NUMBER OF ROAD ACCIDENTS
|
NUMBER OF FATALITIES
|
||||
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
67757
|
66220
|
67232
|
15638
|
15645
|
15776
|
Maharashtra
|
45247
|
63019
|
61627
|
13936
|
13999
|
13903
|
Karnataka
|
44448
|
46250
|
43649
|
9448
|
10046
|
10444
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
44165
|
45524
|
45482
|
14966
|
14946
|
15165
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
24478
|
30615
|
31034
|
15109
|
16004
|
16287
|
Rajasthan
|
22969
|
23592
|
24628
|
9526
|
9724
|
10289
|
Kerala
|
36174
|
35215
|
34282
|
4286
|
4258
|
4049
|
West Bengal
|
15608
|
12414
|
12865
|
6222
|
6504
|
5927
|
Chhattisgarh
|
13511
|
13657
|
13831
|
3167
|
3477
|
4022
|
Delhi
|
6937
|
7566
|
8623
|
1866
|
1870
|
1871
|
Source-[15] Report on accidents and
suicides dated 8.07.2015 of National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home
affairs
Kerala is the only state where there was a
decrease in the number of accident cases reported as well as deaths due to road
crashes from 2012 to 2013 and 2014. Since 2007, road accidents and fatalities
were increasing by 3 to 5% every year and the number of vehicles has increased
by over 10%.[16]Though
small in area and size, the total number of registered vehicles in this state, as
on March 2015 was 9,648,320 which are more than double the number of households
in the state. Around 66% of the registered vehicles are two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
Considering the total length of all the roads in the state, there are 60 vehicles
plying in every kilometre. Still in 2014 compared to 2013, 209 less number of
fatalities and 933 less number of accidents have occurred although as per the
sheer number of accidents reported, Kerala can be ranked in the 5th
position among the states having the highest number of traffic accidents a
year. West Bengal and Maharashtra show fluctuating
trends but in all other states road accidents and fatalities increase as years
go by. Kerala is the third mostdensely populated state in the country with 33
million inhabitants and 850 people per square kilometre. Being a highly
literate and litigant State, all road accidents, however minor, gets reported
to the police and FIRs (First Information Report) are generated, the documents
of which are requiredfor claiming insurance and damages from the Motor Vehicles
Claims Tribunal.
Kerala
is the only state in India having a Road Safety Authority in existence since
2007. [17]The KRSA Act 2007, passed
by the Government in 2008 is vested with powers toformulate policies and schemes,
to allot funds to the various stake-holding departments to promote road safety
and advise the government on various road safety measures.The KRSA has also
powers to control and direct departments such as Health, Education, Police,
Transport, Public Works, Roads and Bridges and National Highways in their road
safety activities. The Minister Transport is chairman of KRSA and Minister
Public Works is vice- Chairman. The Commissioner, Transport is the CEO and
senior officers of the above departments are members. All these departments
have road safety cells and KRSA holds meeting every month to review accidents
and suggest improvements to be carried out by each department to prevent
further accidents. [18]A study was conducted by this
authority through the road safety research organisation, NATPAC (National
transportation, planning & research centre) to formulate a road safety
action plan in 2012. This report stressed the need for strengthening
enforcement and creating awareness among the public against rash and negligent
driving which was the major cause of road accidents and deaths. The report further
recommended that while engineering, enforcement and emergency care are duties
primarily vested with government agencies, education was one area where the
cooperation from the otherwise silent public could be involved in the department’s
efforts to save the lives of people, especially children on the roads. Hence,
the KRSA and Transport Department decided to make a paradigm shift in its
policies and include the public in strengthening road safety in the state.
PROJECT
THIRD EYE
[19]Article 51 (A) of the
Constitution of India outlines the fundamental duties of Indian citizens, one of
them being ‘the duty to abjure violence and safeguard public property’. [20]The Indian Penal Code and
the [21]Criminal Procedure Code
also make it mandatory for every citizen to ‘report a crime before the lawful
authority for taking further action according to law’ and failure to do so may
be construed as abetting the crime. [22]The Central and the State
Motor Vehicle Act and rules likewise exhort the public to report cases of
violations of traffic rules, act as ‘good Samaritans’ to provide assistance to
victims and intimate the hospital and authorities about road accidents.
‘Project
third eye’ was envisaged to involve the silent masses to take proactive steps
in helping reduce road accidents and report offences which they see to the
concerned authority. In this state, enforcement was weak due to acute shortage
of officers and vehicles as well as finances and most of the commuters violated
rather than obeyed the rules. Helmetless riding, non-wearing of the seatbelt,
talking on cell phones while driving, drunken driving and driving under the
influence of narcotic substances, traffic signal lights violations, not
stopping before zebra lines, left side overtaking, road rages as well as
parking on non-parking areas were rampant and went undetected.
Project
Third Eye proposed a bottom up approach for a policy implementation on road
safety and to use the social media and digital networking technology in
promoting safe driving habits and to enforce the rules through participative
policing methods. The transport department invited the public to be ‘the third
eye’ (first eye being Law and the second eye, the Government/enforcement) and provide
information, feedback and comments on road safety activities. The department
gave wide media/press publicity to this project exhorting the public to click
pictures of traffic violations on their phones or other devices and send them
on ‘WhatsApp’ or Facebook page/website to the Motor Vehicle Department. A text message
and email wouldbe sent to the owner of the vehicle intimating them of the rule violation
and directing them to remit the required fines within a fortnight. The project
proposed to reward the informers by giving them free trauma care training, priority
treatment at all offices of transport and motor vehicle department and also
proposed to honour such people who have actively cooperated in reducing traffic
offences or helped victims of road accidents in public functions in order to
encourage others to do the same.
Operation
Third Eye was launched on trial basis in mid-2013. [23]On an average, 3500
pictures and videos were received from the public per day from its inception till
the year-end. The revenue to the government as fines collected as compounding
fee of traffic offences showed an increase of 38% in 2013. By March 2014, the
number of pictures received per day from the public rose to more than 5000 per
day and the department had to hire three data entry operators to clear the
pending work of sending electronic tickets/memos for traffic violations. Complaints
against driving schools, unfair practices or corruption in driving licence tests
or vehicle tests and complaints against enforcers also started to pour in. On each of these, the department sent replies
acknowledging receipt of the pictures/suggestions and gave them a reference
number in case they needed to follow up the matter. A database of informers
kept tag of people who frequently co-operated with the department for rewarding
them.
By
January 2015, it was clear from the data that in 2014, there was a noted
decrease in the number of road accidents and fatalities. The fines and
compounding fees collected in 2014 was Rs 1.2 billion which was more than
double the amount collected in 2013 and this was possible only due to the active
involvement of the public.
INCLUSIVITY-
THE WAY FORWARD TO ROAD SAFETY?
There
are many actors in the road safety sector. Government officers at the Centre
and States, manufacturers and engineers of automobiles, vehicle dealers, oil
companies, public works department, national highwaysdepartment and its
officers, public sector undertakings such as roads and bridges development
corporation, construction corporation, urban planning organisations, officials
at the city corporations, municipalities and villages, town planners, police
and enforcement officers, transport and traffic management officers, public
transport systems and its employees, drivers and passengers, testing centres,
driving schools, licensing centres, check posts and toll booths, pollution
testing centres, meteorology department, NGOs, research and development teams,
officers of various departments such as health and education and finally
cyclists and pedestrians are some of them. To achieve the desired outcome, all
have their specific roles to play. Most of the time, while government
departments, officers and vehicle manufacturers decide and implement major
policies, the road users and the silent masses are forced to abide by them. Their
points of view are often unheard. The transport system and the roads belong to
the taxpayers and the lead Ministry or agency should include them while taking
major decisions in improving road safety; it is ultimately for them that safety
policies should exist.
[24]The Ministry of Road
Transport and highways of India came out with a new draft bill titled the Road
Transport and Safety Bill in 2014 with the aim to reduce road accidents and
fatalities by 50% in 2020. This bill proposed to unify all rules and
procedures, centrally monitor all vehicles and driving licences and codify all
data relating to transport and vehicles to a central system and control. It
further proposed to drastically enhance fines of traffic rule violations and
include penalty points community service up to 15 days as punishments. The
original bill went through four revisions and the new version of the bill of
2015 envisages a framework for safety and ‘seamless development of a secure,
efficient, cost-effective and inclusive
transport system’ in the country. The new bill proposes establishing authorities
for control and coordination of transport and road safety, but is still silent
about inclusive transport or safety. So far, the bill has not even been
introduced in Parliament despite its many revisions and meetings of the Central
Minister with State Ministers. It is expected that once it becomes an Act,
concrete steps for including all the main actors in road safety goals and
policies will be laid out, but immediate actionon the following points need to
be taken by the authorities concerned for reducing road accidents.
1. Government and other agencies should
realise that transport means not only the roads and the motorised sector but also
the non-motorised sector such as cycles, hand or animal pulled vehicles and
pedestrians- women, children, disabled and the poor. While devising policies,
their special needs and inputsshould be studied and changes should be made with
a view to providing safe and secure facilities.
2. Government spendsheavilyfor conferences,
educational programmes and meetings for road safety but fail toharness public
ideas to develop sustainable goals (SDGs) in road safety. Funds should be made
available for creating and disseminating awareness to the people on traffic and
public transport system or outsource it effectively. Making available free and
user-friendly computer/mobile applications on traffic, transport and road
safety, having transparency in all policy decisions, inviting public
participation before making substantial changes and providing a common platform
for formulating a future path to road safety are some ways by which money can
be fruitfully spent by the government.
3. It is human nature to resist policy
decisions taken unilaterally. If the civil society thinks that road safety is a
matter of concern only with the government, they will continue to break rulesaccording
to their convenience while no one is watching. Public resentment to
authoritarian road safety measures is evident when they are more willing to pay
the penalty rather than obey the rules. Hence, an environment of connecting
with the publicand ensuring respect for law will have to be created.
4. Technology, presently used for strict
enforcement should be extended to allowease of understanding and following of procedures
for the public. Rules and regulations as well as penalty for violating them
should be continuously brought before public attention and thrust should be given
to prevent violations than to penalise them. Surveys, feedback and inputs on improvements
needed in technology to enhanceroad safetyand how best to prevent traffic offences
and road ragescould be called for. Digitizingdata of all the roads, vehicles,
users of roads, the behaviour of drivers and other stakeholders at the national
level for analytical purposes should be implemented forease in assessment of
various issues and for future improvementin road safety.
5. Social media is a good space for
inclusive road safety activities. The Facebook page of Kerala Motor Vehicles Department
has 143,000 friends as of now and gets around 55,000 posts a week from the
public. This department has registered online charitable organisations called TRUST
(TRaUma care System of Travancore) and TRACK (TRAuma care, Kerala) which formally
train the public on first aid and trauma care on every Saturday at
reputedhospitals. Over 46,000 persons are so far trained on trauma care. The
trained persons are given ID cards so that they can effectively intervene if an
accident occurs in their locality. SMILE (Seamless Medical Intervention In
Life-saving and Emergency care) is another organisation started by the police
in co-operation with the Medical College Hospitals in Kerala for imparting
trauma-care training to traffic police officers.Another initiative by the transport
department on inclusivity in road safety was the hackathon organised for the
public in August 2014. The World Bank, in association with AXA, G-tech and
Angel hack, USA sponsored for hosting Asia’s first ever ‘road safety hackathon’
in Kerala in which 308 students and technocrats participated. This event generated
novel ideas on road safety technology.
If
we could save the lives of 237 people in 18 months through a small experiment
in one tiny state, we can save thousands of lives in the country if similar
inclusive policies are taken up by the department/Government. It is estimated
by the UN that ‘by 2030, road accidents will become a leading cause of death in
the world unless drastic action is taken to change the trend’. At present, the
major cause of death in humans is old age and sickness, but road accidents will
become the number one cause in 15 years unless we do something substantial in
this field. The future path to road
safety is clear- it is the path of inclusive road safety.
"Coming
together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is
success”- Henry Ford