Road Crash History and Risk Groups in India Need for New Initiatives and Safety Policies

Historically, India has never before experienced the type of vehicular growth as that of the past decade. The number of registered vehicles in the nation increased from 30.29 million in 1995 to 66.29 million in 2005, while road crashes, persons injured, and traffic fatalities increased by 82%, 68%, and 44%, respectively. This paper presents a quantitative perspective on road crashes in India and identifies risk categories. Three levels of analysis were completed: (a) a nationwide crash assessment for 2001 and 2005, (b) a crash evaluation for a group of 35 urban agglomerations (UAs), and (c) modal comparisons to identify risk groups. Data analysis for UAs showed that the primary risk categories were for motorized two-wheelers, pedestrians, and bicyclists, who had a share of 27%, 20%, and 5% of fatalities, respectively. Outside of UAs, heavy vehicles posed the highest risk, with a 23% share of nationwide fatalities. While the country's draft national road safety policy broadly speaks to initiatives such as raising safety awareness and ensuring safe road infrastructure, the ground-level conditions are different. This paper discusses the problems faced by the road user and calls for immediate action to (a) develop a road accident reporting system and a national access management policy, (b) enforce traffic rules rigorously, (c) ensure compliance with vehicle maintenance rules, (d) modify driver behavior, and (e) commit to design and construction of good road infrastructure with safety as a priority. In this context, initiatives to build projects in a public-private partnership mode are a welcome change, as they can better integrate road design and traffic safety issues.