Lok Sabha: study finds India may top list of road deaths

The number of accidents per lakh population has risen from 38.1 in 1995 to 39.9 in 2005. The Ministry recently shared the findings of the decade-old study, titled ‘Establishment of System for Identification and Rectification of Accident Black Spots’, in the Lok Sabha after a query was raised on whether it had studied accident causes on National Highways.

In his reply, Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyaapa said the maximum number of accidents, especially fatal, occurred on straight stretches due to high speed. “Four-arm junctions were most accident prone, pedestrians most vulnerable and trucks were involved in most night accidents. Negligence and over-speeding were found to be the causes of 90 per cent of accidents,” says the study.

While the Minister’s reply had no mention of any rectification undertaken on the 15 National Highways under the study, he placed the onus on state Governments, saying safety of road users is their responsibility. “But on our part we have taken several steps,”Muniyaapa said.

As far as the Sundar Committee report on road safety, which was submitted to the Ministry in February 2007, is concerned, Ministry has only held several rounds of discussions and another is scheduled for December 1.

China, in contrast is fast bringing down the road death tally. In 2005, China reported 4,50,254 road accidents and 98,738 people were killed. 2006 figures showed 3,78,781 accidents and death tally stood at 89,455 — a drop of 15.9 per cent in the number of accidents and 9.4 per cent in deaths. The number of road accidents in China dropped by an annual average 10.8 per cent for four consecutive years from 2003, despite continuous growth in the number of privately owned cars. And road death toll dropped to 89,455 in 2006 from 1,04,000 in 2003.

India is expected to notch up one lakh plus road accidents deaths — highest in the world—once 2006 figures are out.