Case Study of the week— Road Safety: ‘Better Late than Never’

Case studies are essentially based on an important issue in current news or revolve around any important social, economic, ethical and cultural subject. These case studies can also be very beneficial for value addition in the essay, GS mains and interview. This particular case study is relevant for GS II, III, IV and essay. Solve the MCQ given at the end of the article. Also, Post Read Q&A will help you to self-evaluate your retention memory after reading the article.

The Case

Former Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry was killed in a road accident on Sunday on the National Highway in Maharashtra. The tragedy has once again spotlighted the high numbers of fatalities that Indian roads witness every year.

The Issue

Road safety and people’s attitude towards seatbelts.

The Problems

The World Bank noted in a report that with only 1 percent of the world’s vehicles, India accounts for almost 10 percent of all crash related deaths.

According to WHO,

—More than half of all road traffic deaths and injuries involve vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and their passengers.

—Developing economies record higher rates of road traffic injuries, with 93 percent of fatalities coming from low- and middle-income countries.

—In addition to the human suffering caused by road traffic injuries, they also incur a heavy economic burden on victims and their families, both through treatment costs for the injured and through loss of productivity of those killed or disabled.

—More broadly, road traffic injuries have a serious impact on national economies, costing countries 3 percent of their annual gross domestic product.

The tragic death of Cyrus Mistry came days after the National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) report was released.

Some of the major points as per the National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) are:

—1.55 lakh individuals died in accidents on India’s roads in 2021, up from the 1.33 lakh deaths in the pandemic lockdown year of 2020.

—Two-wheelers accounted for most deaths (44.5 percent). Buses accounted for 3 percent of deaths in accidents.

—Speeding caused 87,000 deaths, accounting for over half of all deaths

—Dangerous and careless driving was attributed as cause for 42,000 deaths.

—The maximum increase in number of traffic accident cases from 2020 to 2021 was reported in Tamil Nadu, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala .

The Solutions

The Lancet Series on road safety suggests important points which should be considered as points of the solution.
It calls for increased political and financial commitments, and for road safety to be included in mainstream development policies. This study also argues that this is essential to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the target to halve road traffic crash fatalities and injuries by 2030.

Some of the major points in The Lancet study are:

—New global and country-level estimates suggest that routinely wearing helmets and seat belts, obeying speed limits, and avoiding drunk driving could save between 347,000 and 540,000 lives worldwide every year.

—The benefits of more motorcyclists wearing helmets can save 5,683 lives in India.

—Interventions to reduce speeding such as infrastructure changes and electronic speed control could save an estimated 347,258 lives globally each year.

—Measures to tackle drunk driving such as enhanced drunk driving enforcement could save a further 16,304 lives.

—Improving seat belt use would have a particularly large effect on reducing road deaths.

Sub Case: The importance of seat belts

A video issued in the public interest by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says wearing a seat belt reduces the impact of an accident by 80 percent.

A study by Save LIFE Foundation and NISSAN released in January 2019 recorded that only seven percent of people in India always wear seat belts while sitting in the back seat, another 26 percent wear it sometimes, and the rest never wear it.

Seat belts are compulsory in both the front and back seats. Section 194 (B)(1) of The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 says, “Whoever drives a motor vehicle without wearing a safety belt or carries passengers not wearing seat belts shall be punishable with a fine of one thousand rupees”.

Attitudes to seat belts

Compliance of seat belts in the rear seat is poor in India. For most people, wearing seat belts is mandatory only for the front seat. It is not uncommon to find people preferring to sit in the back just to avoid the “inconvenience” of wearing a seat belt.

There is no clear-cut reason for non-compliance. Three broad arguments are usually presented.

We don’t care about our safety

We don’t want to spend more on safer cars

We suffer from poor enforcement of laws

But, blaming irrationality for road fatalities is a dead end from a policy perspective.

Beyond the case

A. National and Global efforts for road safety

1. India State Support Programme for Road Safety by World Bank: The World Bank has approved a USD 250 million loan for seven States under which a single accident reporting number will be set up to better manage post-crash events.

2. Third High-Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030’: It was conceptualized to have zero road fatalities in India by 2030.

3. Brasilia declaration: India signed the Brasilia declaration and committed to reduction in fatalities.

4. Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019: It provides for the constitution of the National Road Safety Board to advice the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be, on all aspects pertaining to road safety and traffic management

5. Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030:

The UN General Assembly adopted resolution “Improving global road safety ” with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

The Global Plan aligns with the Stockholm Declaration, by emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to road safety.

6. Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) 2020-2025: It aims to reduce road crash fatalities and injuries in low and middle-income countries and cities by implementing a comprehensive set of actions that are proven to save lives.

7. The Government constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri S. Sundar to finalise a draft National Road Safety Policy. Based on the recommendations of Sunder Committee, the Union Cabinet approved National Road Safety Policy. The National Road Safety Policy outlines the policy initiatives to be framed / taken by the Government at all levels to improve road safety activities in the country.

In order to achieve a significant improvement in road safety, the Government of India is committed to:

Raise Awareness about Road Safety Issues

Establish a Road Safety Information Database

Ensure Safer Road Infrastructure

Safer Vehicles

Road Traffic Safety Education and Training

Enforcement of Safety Laws

Emergency Medical Services for Road Accidents

Strengthening Enabling Legal, Institutional and Financial Environment for Road Safety etc.

B. Who is Good Samaritan?

According to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,

A Good Samaritan is a person who, in good faith, without expectation of payment or reward and without any duty of care or special relationship, voluntarily comes forward to administer immediate assistance or emergency care to a person injured in an accident, or crash, or emergency medical condition, or emergency situation.

Good Samaritan Law protects Good Samaritans from harassment on the actions being taken by them to save the life of the road accident victims.

Become a GOOD SAMARITAN and help in reducing the number of deaths due to accidents.

Let us take this pledge to save someone’s life and take it upon as our moral duty to be a good citizen.

(sources: morth.nic.in, who.int, ncrb.gov.in)

Point to ponder: What India can learn from the rest of the world to ensure road safety?

MCQ:

Which of the following statements is incorrect with respect to road safety?

a) In the ‘Third High Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030’ it was conceptualised to have zero road fatalities in India by 2030.

b) Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri S. Sundar finalised a draft on National Road Safety Policy.

c) Brasilia declaration was signed at the Second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety.

d) According to National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI), the maximum increase in the number of traffic accident cases from 2020 to 2021 was reported in Maharashtra.

Answer to the previous MCQ

UPSC Essentials: Historical Tidbits- Early history of Kashmir and Martand Temple— (c)

Post Read Q&A

Can you recall what you read?

1. What are the key points on road accidents in the latest NCRB report?

2. What are some of the important global and national initiatives on road safety?

3. Who is a ‘Good Samaritan’?

4. What does the Section 194 (B)(1) of The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 say?