Gist of Making Our Roads Safer Notes | Study Gist of Rajya Sabha TV / RSTV (now Sansad TV) - UPSC

Context
As per a recently launched report, India has just one per cent of the world's vehicles, but accounts for nearly 11% of the global road accidents and 10% of road crash victims worldwide.

Background

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has released World Bank Report titled “Traffic Crash Injuries And Disabilities: The Burden on India Society”, prepared in association with the NGO – Save Life Foundation.
• Releasing the report, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways termed the road accident scenario in India more dangerous than the Covid pandemic.

Summary of the Debate
Key Highlights of the Report

• The report is prepared by World Bank in close collaboration with the NGO-Save Life Foundation.
• The survey data was collected from four Indian states i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
• The research assesses the social, financial, gender, and psychological impacts of road crashes on poor and disadvantaged households.
• Report basically looks at the economic and social economic burden on the people.
• It finds that very low awareness about insurance, insurance mechanism and institutional support is there which impede the support they can get from state. 
• The accident cost is a tremendous burden to society and the nation as the estimated cost of a death in a road accident is around Rs 91 lakh. 
• The financial impact of the crash is much more on poorer households. It says more than 75% poor households in India reported a decline in their income as a result of a road traffic crash. 

Impact of Road Accidents

• Social Impact
  • The report highlights the disproportionate impact of a road crash on poor households that pushes them into a vicious cycle of poverty and debt.
    • The report sheds light on the links between road crashes, poverty, inequality, and vulnerable road users in India.
  • The post-crash impact among Low Income Households is more severe compared to High Income Households:
  • The incidence of fatality among poor households is 44% in rural areas compared to 11.6% in urban areas.
  • The report stated that Lower Income Household (LIH) reported twice the numbers of deaths post-crash as compared to High Income Household (HIH).
  • The victims from LIH and rural areas are also twice more likely to suffer a disability after a crash than their HIH counterparts.
  • The report highlighted that the post-crash impact was more severe for LIH in low capacity states compared to HIH in high capacity states.
  • The report highlights that women bore the burden of crashes across poor and rich households, often taking up extra work, assuming greater responsibilities, and performing caregiving activities after a crash.
• Economic Impact
  • The report found out that more than 75% of poor households in India reported a decline in their income as a result of a road traffic crash.
  • The financial loss for the poor amounted to more than seven month’s household income, while it was equivalent to less than one month’s household income for rich households.
  • The decline in total household income was sharper among LIH (75%) than HIH (54%).
    • The severe impact of decline in income was highest among LIH in rural areas (56%) compared to LIH in urban areas (29.5%) and HIH rural (39.5%).
  • About 40 percent of women reported a change in their working patterns post-crash, while around 11 per cent reported taking up extra work to deal with the financial crisis.
• Emotional Impact
  • The women bear the brunt of caregiving activities post-crash, leading to a double burden of labour and mental load.
  • The report highlights that road accidents exacerbated inequality of opportunities in returning to livelihoods and income generating tasks.

What More Needs To Be Done?

• Reducing road accident deaths and injuries can boost income growth. Road accident deaths and injuries strike down prime working age adults in low and middle income countries.
  • Large welfare gains can be achieved from proven cost effective road safety interventions.
• Setting up of institutional policy mechanism around this. 
• There is a need to have post crash care which allowed victims to reach hospitals at time. 
• Dedicated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists should be made to keep them safer from vehicles.
• In India, Tamil Nadu has seen a decline in number of accident fatalities, this model can be applied at pan India level.

Recommendations To Make Road Safety

• Increasing awareness especially among households and truck drivers.
• Increase the chances of golden hour, where victims can reach to hospitals in quick time. 
• Provide financial support to the victim family.
• Interim compensation.
• Established emergency care set up.

Way Forward

• Need comprehensive approach and follow all ease of road safety.
• There should be focus on how the roads are being built. 
• Emergency care, pre and post crash facilities should be there. 
• Data of fatalities, accident prone areas should be collected to reduce the fatalities in future. 
• Cost effective safety interventions are required.

Facts

• With only 1 per cent of the world's vehicles, India accounts for 11 per cent of the global death in road accidents, the highest in the world.
• The country accounts for about 4.5 lakh road crashes per annum, in which 1.5 lakh people die.
• In the last decade, 13 lakh people died and another 50 lakh got injured on Indian roads.
• The report estimates the crash costs at Rs 5.96 lakh crore or 3.14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
• As per, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) the socio-economic costs of road crashes at Rs 1,47,114 crore in India, which is equivalent to 0.77 per cent of the country's GDP.
• As per the Ministry, 76.2 per cent of people who are killed in road crashes are in their prime working-age, 18-45 years.
• Globally, road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the eighth leading cause of death.A