road safety

India has the second largest road network in the world with over 3 million km of roads of which 60% are paved. These roads make a vital contribution to the India's economy. On the whole, the facilities for the road users are not up to the mark, leading to a high toll of the death victims. Recently, there is a growing concern over the road crash problem.India loses more than 100 000 lives due to road traffic crashes every year. It has a road traffic fatality rate of 16.8 deaths per 100 000 population. Approximately half of all deaths on the country's roads are among vulnerable road users - motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists.With the advancement of technology, the most developed projects undertaken along with the real estate are the massive road building projects. But while new roads are being built, faster and faster automobiles are being invented in high numbers making road safety a crucial question.Road safety is emerging as a major social concern in the country. The statistics are mind boggling with an average mortality rate of 100,000 persons dying in road accidents.

According to a survey from WHO, each year road traffic injuries take away lives of 1.2 million men, women, and children around the globe and injure many more. The death toll is on the higher side for the countries where pedestrians, motorcyclists and passengers are vulnerable and vehicles lack the safety norms, like India. According to the recently published WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, though there are laws on speed, seatbelt wearing and helmet wearing, and drink-driving, they are poorly enforced. India is one of the ten countries included in the WHO Road Safety in 10 countries project which will be conducted over 5-years by a consortium of six international partners.