Road accidents: India
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Accidents, road: all India
1 death every 4.5 min in road accidents ‘In 2008, Country Witnessed 4.85L Road Accidents In Which 1.2L People Died’ Dipak Kumar Dash | TNN
New Delhi: Indian roads witness one road mishap every minute and one death in accidents every four and a half minutes, according to the latest report of the road, transport and highways ministry.
The report, which was released this week by the transport research wing of the ministry, said that in 2008, the country witnessed 4.85 lakh road accidents in which 1.2 lakh people lost their lives. And more than half of the road accident victims are in the age group of 25 and 65 years, the ‘key wage earning and child raising age group’.
Similarly, the report estimates that these road accidents left 5.2 lakh people injured.
The annual road accident document also points to high fatalities — almost 65% of the all road deaths — on national and state highways in comparison to other roads. In 2008, while 42,670 persons died on NHs, the state highways claimed 34,081 lives. ‘‘The deaths are on rise despite the ministry spending more on road safety in the last six years. We are not analyzing the actual reasons behind road accidents. Had technical people with road safety expertise been in-charge of the affairs, the situation would not have slipped to this alarming level,’’ said a senior ministry official.
While in 2004-05, the ministry spent Rs 35 crore out of the allocated fund of Rs 39.7 crores, in 2008-09 it shot to Rs 54.8 crore. The report singles out fault of the drivers as the major reason of road deaths. This claimed 89,360 persons in 2008. Fault of cyclists, pedestrians, motor vehicles and bad road and weather conditions were also identified as some of the factors for fatalities on roads across the country.
However, ministry sources said that in the absence of proper investigation of road mishaps, local police put the onus of these accidents on the drivers. ‘‘The report is silent on how the governments’ failure to regulate the issuance of driving licences and lack of proper training of drivers are contributing to this high occurrence of road mishaps,’’ officials said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the ministry has set an ambitious target to bring down road deaths by 50% in the next two years. For this purpose, the budget estimate for 2010-11 has been increased to Rs 180 crore from Rs 74 crores in the previous year. RISKY ROADS Total road deaths in 2008: 1,06,591 persons Share of national highways: 42,670 persons Share of state highways: 34,081 persons People who died due to drivers’ fault: 89,360
India's highest road fatalities 2008 to 2013 were in Delhi
Delhi sees most road deaths in India
New Delhi
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
The Times of India Jun 24 2014
About 40 busloads of citizens die on the capital’s roads every year. From 2008 to 2013, more than 12,300 people died in road accidents here. Last year alone, there were a total of 1,820 deaths.
An assessment of road accidents done by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reveals that not only does Delhi have the most dangerous roads in the country but pedestrians and bikers are at the greatest risk on them. On average, five people die in road accidents every day, and four of them are either pedestrians or twowheeler riders.
The traffic police have identified 128 accident hotspots — places where three or more fatal accidents, or 10 accidents have occurred in a year -and the CSE assessment shows that northwest and southwest Delhi have the most such spots. Taken design-wise, signal-free arterial roads are the most dangerous.
Ironically, roads that have received the maximum government attention and resources for widening and signal-free movement have the highest accident rates.
“These features have, in fact, turned arterial roads into death traps. Especially dangerous are spots where flyovers begin, such as Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS, Sarita Vihar, Mahipalpur, Rajokri, ITO or IP, and Moti Bagh,” says the report released on Monday.
Eight key arterial roads, designed to be high-speed corridors, record nearly 75% of all deaths in Delhi alone.
For nearly a decade now, road infrastructure in Delhi has received a lot of attention but despite having the best roads in the country, the city leads in terms of traffic fatalities. Mumbai records far more accidents—25,000 in 2012—but the number of deaths is around 500. Even Chennai, with 9,000 accidents annually has 1,350 fatalities. However, Delhi has the highest percentage of fatal accidents. Last year, 1,820 persons died in 7,566 accidents.
Traffic experts say violation of rules is rampant in Delhi, and speeding is a common offence due to the better road conditions. This year, more than 3 lakh motorists have been challaned for jumping signals and 45,158 for speeding.
Also, more than 14,000 cases of drunken driving have been detected.
Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic), said policies on road safety are framed in fits and starts. “Our
roads should be so designed that they are forgiving of the mistakes drivers make,” he said. At the same time, existing laws are not strong enough to deter traffic violations. For instance, the fine for many serious offences is a meagre Rs 100.
Shukla gave the example of a traffic junction, where 1.3 lakh violations were detected in a month, and a man who was challaned 144 times in three months but did not correct his ways. “About 15% are court challans. Most wait for Lok Adalat hearings where cases are settled by paying a fine of Rs 10 or Rs 20. For a person who can afford a Rs 45-lakh car, does a fine of Rs 100 matter?” Half of the road casualties (dead and injured) in Delhi are pedestrians (44%) and cyclists (6%), while nationally, the numbers are 9% and 5%, respectively. Till May this year, 325 people had died in accidents at night and 332 during daytime. An IIT Delhi study of AIIMS Flyover showed that after the cloverleaf was opened, speeds increased by 21.5%, 22.6%, 15% and 31.6% for heavy vehicles, cars, three wheelers and two wheelers, respectively.
Yet, nearly 22% of pedestrians continued to cross the road at ‘grade’ level although a pedestrian underpass is provided.
Delhi: Road accidents
Study shows fewer accidents in 2010
Delhi Police Says Number Of Mishaps Down By 15.5% In First Three Months
Megha Suri Singh | TNN
New Delhi: Delhi roads seem to be becoming much safer if the accident figures compiled by the Delhi Police for the first three months of this year are to be believed. The study reveals that the number of accidents reported this year — 1,450 — is the lowest the city has seen in the past decade. Traffic police attributes it to increasing congestion and therefore reduced speeds, phase-wise completion of large construction projects and large presence of cops on the roads during rush hours.
A look at the figures reveals that 495 people have been killed in accidents this year (till March 31) and another 1,330 people suffered injuries. There has been a decline of about 15.5% in the total number of accidents. Trucks continue to be the major killers as they have been involved in 92 accidents, followed by Bluelines with 24 accidents and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses with 8 accidents.
Over the years, the highest number of accidents has been reported in the wee hours of the day (midnight to 4am) and this year too, 65 accidents occurred during this time. But the maximum number of accidents — 120 — have taken place between 9pm and 12pm. This is about eight accidents less than the figure for last year.
Senior traffic police officials feel it is not possible to attribute the reduction in accidents to any one reason. But a recent mandate to post traffic policemen at all the intersections in the city during the morning and evening rush hour could have been a factor.
‘‘We have shifted the focus from enforcement to traffic management during the morning and evening rush hour. Now, every traffic signal in the city is physically manned by policemen. Wewould have taken a hit on prosecution, but the focus is on better traffic management,’’ said an official.
Police sources say that the average speed on several key corridors like Ring Road, where people could earlier speed has also reduced due to congestion and traffic jams. This, they said, also could have translated into fewer accidents.
2010-12: Road accidents
Roads in Punjab most fatal in India
Dipak Kumar Dash | TNN
The Times of India 2013/08/16
New Delhi: Chances of getting killed in a road accident is the highest in Amritsar and in the country’s Mercedes capital Ludhiana.
Latest data on road fatalities shows that at least six people died in every 10 road crashes in these two cities in 2012 against only three in Delhi, which recorded maximum fatalities in 2012. Though Mumbai recorded the highest number of accidents among 50 million-plus cities, the fatality rate was only 2%.
The ‘Road Accidents in India’ report prepared by the transport research wing of the road ministry also shows that roads in Punjab are proving to be fatal for commuters. The severity of accident – deaths per 100 mishaps – in the state has been increasing in the past four years. While it was 65.9% in 2009, this increased to 76% in 2012.
“Ludhiana and Amritsar are the worst examples. But the state as a whole is also losing over 4,800 lives in road accidents. We have heterogeneous traffic, little enforcement of noentry timings and huge problem of drink driving,” said Dr Kamalzit Singh Soi, vice-chairman of Punjab Road Safety Council.
The industrial city of Ludhiana has around 1.4 million vehicles for its 3.5 million people, of whom 20-30% are migrant labourers. Soi said traffic coming from six districts passed through the city and almost 23 km of the under-expansion Panipat-Jalandhar highway runs through the urban area.
“On top of this, annually around 35 crore bottles of liquor are sold in the state that has a population of only 2.7 crore. Out of this, around 1.49 crore are women. So, we can make out how many times and how many people drive in a drunken state,” he said.
Cases of drunk driving accidents decline
The continuous decline in accidents caused due to intake of alcohol/drugs in the past three years has come as a breather for the government. While in 2010 such violation caused 31,000 accidents, the number of such mishaps reduced to 23,979 last year. Even the fatalities have fallen from 9,976 in 2010 to 7,835 in 2012. Uttar Pradesh reported maximum fall in fatalities in this category from 4,635 in 2011 to 2,400 last year. TNN
2012: Road accidents
Delhi is the road death capital too
Dipak Kumar Dash TNN 2013/06/25
New Delhi: New Delhi besides being the capital of the country holds the dubious distinction of being the road death capital. In the year 2012, the city recorded 1,527 deaths in accidents.
Latest data on accidental deaths released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that India’s overall record deteriorated further, with the toll crossing 1.39 lakh during 2012 in comparison to little over 1.36 lakh in the previous year. Chennai seems to be moving closer to the national capital registering 1,401 road fatalities in 2012.
“While Delhi has witnessed high growth of vehicles resulting in slowing down of traffic, the situation is different in Chennai. Roads have become better and the speed of vehicles has increased,” said a road transport ministry official.
The data shows that at all India level, Tamil Nadu has overtaken Uttar Pradesh registering 16,175 deaths during 2012. UP reported 15,109 deaths while Andhra recorded 15,000 fatalities and Maharashtra ranked four among the states with 13,936 deaths
The legal aspect
Compensation a right of mishap victims: HC
Shibu Thomas, TNN | Aug 29, 2013
MUMBAI: Victims of road accidents and their next of kin have a right under law to claim compensation, the Bombay high court has ruled. Twenty-three years after a Yavatmal-based bank officer lost his life in a road accident involving an MSRTC bus, Justice A P Bhangale ordered the state transport undertaking to pay Rs 6.51 lakh, along with interest, to his wife and three children.
The judge threw out the MSRTC's contention that the deceased bank officer, Mukundrao Dongre (38), could not be categorized as a third party eligible for compensation under the third-party risk insurance rule.
"I find it difficult to accept the submission that the victim was a person 'other than third party'," said the judge. "The Motor Vehicle Act provides for mandatory third-party insurance, which is compulsory for any motor vehicle owner. The objective of the act is to ensure that the third party receives just and fair compensation from the owner of the offending motor vehicle and receives compensation."
The court said the law protects victims of road accidents. "The right of the victim of a road accident to claim compensation is statutory. The legislature in its wisdom enacted the (law) to protect the victims of road accidents, who may be travelling in the vehicle or using the road, and thereby made it obligatory that no motor vehicle shall be used unless the vehicle is compulsorily insured against third-party risk."
The court said the MSRTC could not escape paying compensation by claiming that the other vehicle was responsible for the accident. "If liability is denied, it is for the MSRTC to plead and prove rashness and negligence on the part of the driver of the jeep if according to it the jeep was the offending motor vehicle... Mere allegation is not enough."
Mere absence of or fake or invalid driving license or disqualification of the driver for driving at the relevant time are not in themselves defences available to the MSRTC against the third parties."
Drivers, women
Women are safer drivers, says police study Indrani Basu TNN
The Times of India, Oct 17, 2011
New Delhi: Busting the stereotype about women being bad drivers, a report compiled by Delhi Traffic Police reveals that woman drivers cause less than 2% of all fatal road mishaps in the city and their involvement in accidents has dropped in the past few years despite more women taking the wheel.
Till September 15 this year, 12 fatal accidents were caused by women in Delhi, against 724 by men, the report said. Woman drivers were involved in 53 accidents causing injury while the number for men was 2,524. Even in accidents which did not cause injuries, the male-female ratio was 284:4.
“The data does not support the popular impression that women are poor drivers,” said joint CP (traffic) Satyendra Garg. Women smash stereotype, more cautious behind wheel
New Delhi: A report compiled by the Delhi Traffic Police has debunked the age-old stereotype about women being bad drivers as they are found to be involved in less than 2% of all fatal road mishaps in the city. They are believed to be more cautious and therefore responsible for fewer accidents.
“The number of women drivers is just a fraction of the number of men who drive. But even proportionately, women are involved in far fewer accidents and incidents of rash driving than their male counterparts,” said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.
“Our impression is women are far safer drivers, with a tendency to follow traffic rules. This disproves the contention that women cannot drive,” he added.
The report is in sharp contrast to the findings of a recent “perception-based” survey by an industry chamber which said women were more aggressive drivers and caused more road fatalities.
Overall, 5,432 road accident cases were reported in the city till September 15, of which woman drivers were found to be responsible for 69 – just over 1% of the total.
The report said over the years, the involvement of woman drivers in accidents has also decreased. While in 2008 women were found to be involved in 107 road accidents, the figure dropped to 101 and then 72 in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Despite stringent checks by the traffic police, women have not been found driving drunk.
Driving school instructors too rubbish perceptions of women having poor motor skills. “More number of women have started driving. Though they are predominantly young girls in the age group of 18-20 years, women of all ages, including between 55 and 60 years, also come to us for learning how to drive. Women are more diligent students and are interested in learning traffic rules carefully. They are perhaps more hesitant and cautious but that is better than rash driving,” said Gaurav Kaghait, senior instructor at New Star Motor Driving College in Kalkaji.
Death of foetus in mishap
Rs 2.5L relief for unborn child’s death in mishap
HC Compares Dead Foetus With Minor Child
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
From the archives of The Times of India 2007, 2009
2010
New Delhi: In an important ruling, the Delhi High Court has held that an unborn dead foetus can be considered on par with a minor child while fixing compensation. It directed an insurance company to pay extra compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh to a man who lost his pregnant wife in a road accident in 2008.
HC allowed an appeal filed by one Prakash seeking compensation for his unborn child as his plea was ignored by the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT). The court, however, made it clear that the dead foetus cannot be compared with a grown-up child, because by then a child’s presence in the life of his or her parents has created enough memories for them to feel greater pain at the loss of their child. This pain will be lesser were an unborn child to die as in that case there will be no memories to cherish.
‘‘This court holds that an unborn child — aged five months onwards in mother’s womb till its birth — is treated as equal to a child... the foetus is another life in a woman and loss of foetus is actually loss of child in the offing,’’ HC reasoned, while allowing the appeal and the compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh along with an interest rate of 7.5 per annum to Prakash.
While the MACT had already awarded Rs 6.11 lakh to the petitioner for the accident in which his wife died with sevenmonth-old foetus in her womb, the tribunal had not taken into account the death of foetus as a factor.
HC directed the insurance company to deposit Rs 2 lakh with the UCO bank as fixed deposit within a month and release rest of the amount to the victim’s family.
On his part, the petitioner argued that the MACT Tribunal had ignored the plea on a ground that post-mortem report has not mentioned anything about the presence of foetus. The counsel argued the road accident took place on June 8, 2008 and the foetus was removed from the woman’s womb on June 17 and the mother died on August 14.
Clarifying that the foetus was absent at the time of the victim’s death, the lawyer submitted the statements of doctors from Shushruta Trauma Centre and LNJP who treated the woman soon after the accident and removed the foetus after the unborn baby died in the womb due to the accident.
toireporter@timesgroup.com
