Road Safety

Roads
India has the second largest road network in the world with over 3 million km of roads of which 46% are paved. These roads carry an estimated 60% of freight and 80% of passengers and they make a vital contribution to India’s economy. The road traffic contains an incredible mix of pedestrians, animal drawn vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses and trucks. On the whole the facilities for the large number of non-motorised road users are poor and the 40 million vehicles using the roads have a terrible toll on human life, killing over 80,000 people with over one third of a million victims requiring hospital treatment. These crashes not only cause considerable suffering and hardship but they also have a major impact on the country’s economy, costing an estimated Rs 300 billion or more than 3% of India’s GDP every year.
Road safety situation
In the state of Karnataka, there were over 6,500 deaths on the roads in 2006 and nearly 50,000 injuries. Because of high levels of under reporting the true figures are likely to be much higher, particularly for the non-fatal crashes and less serious injuries. One hospital study indicated that the real death toll could be 20 - 30 % higher and the injuries almost double the official statistics. In Bangalore with 915 deaths in 2006, the road crash and casualty statistics indicated that 39% of victims were drivers or passengers of two wheelers, 23% were pedestrians, the majority of those killed or injured were 20-29 years old, 80% of victims were male, alcohol was suspected in 10% of crashes, over 60% of victims suffered head injuries and 41% of crashes involved buses, minibuses and trucks.
India in general has a positive approach to government partnerships with businesses and civil society. In the city of Bangalore, road safety is very much led by the Police. The Police can use the revenue from traffic fines for road safety improvements and they are addressing a number of key issues with support from many responsible... [continues]

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