Ticking wrong boxes?

India continues to grapple with the problem of road safety with the highest number of fatalities in the world, about 1.6 lakh every year.

Back in 2015, as part of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, we had pledged to reduce the number of road deaths by the year 2020. However, all these years we continued with piecemeal efforts on removal of black / grey spots, like school education and trauma care training in isolation.

Even after years of dealing with road deaths, injuries, and accidents, we still do not have any data regarding analysis of detailed causes of accidents / fatalities.

Whatever data is available, unfortunately, we choose to ignore it. The tough part of simple enforcement of the existing regulations does not seem to be in the action plan or focus. The result is that the target to reduce road fatalities continues to be a mirage.

MoRTH data of 2020 shows that, more than 64 per cent of road fatalities happen with the Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs = Pedestrians + Bicyclists + 2-Wheelers). The same data also shows that the VRU's share in the fatalities has been on a constant rise over the past five years. VRU's share in road fatalities has moved from 47 per cent in 2016 to 49 per cent in 2017, 55 per cent in 2018 and 57 per cent in 2019.

On the contrary, car occupants' fatalities have constantly declined, from 18 per cent in 2016 to 13.6 per cent in 2020. In fact, in Delhi — India's high vehicle density capital — VRU fatalities account for a whopping 89 per cent, while fatalities of car inmates are about five per cent. Contrastingly, while cars have been mandated with 10 different safety regulations in last two years, we hardly have any strong regulatory measure focused to reduce VRU fatalities

Thanks to the government's efforts, India today stands at par with Europe for most crash regulations, but lacks significantly on enforcement when compared to the world.

As per WHO report of 2018, India ranks 3 to 4 (on a scale of 10) on most of the enforcement parameters like helmet wearing, tying of seat belts, drunken driving, over-speeding etc. This stands in contrast with a much higher score of 9 to 10 for enforcement in most of the developed world. Ironically, we benchmark the same countries when we draft the regulations for road safety but ignore them for benchmarking on enforcement.

Hence, it is no surprise that nearly a decade after our pledge, the road fatalities in India continue to rise. Last year it rose to about 1.65 lakh deaths.

Let us also look at another critical data point to assess causes of fatalities. According to MoRTH data, in 70 per cent of the 2-wheeler accident deaths, victims were found not wearing helmets; and in 87 per cent of the car accident deaths, victims were found not tying seat belts.

The recent move by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to make six airbags mandatory in every car, as an improved safety measure, has its own shortcomings — as indicated by the fatal accident of Cyrus Mistry. The car had seven airbags but still could not save the life as seat belt was not worn

In a crash, seat belts are primary restraint devices whereas airbags are supplemental support. Several global studies have shown that if an airbag is deployed without having the seat belt, it can cause severe injuries and even death.

Sadly, the data in India shows, more than 70 per cent of the car occupants do not use seat belts in front and 96 per cent do not wear seat belts on the backseat

Another big problem is that people have their own unique ways and jugaad for bypassing the law. No matter what devices or sensors or alarms like seat belt reminders are mandated, the un-informed user tends to find his own easy means to bypass the law and ignore safety.

It is high time that we move away from the populist idea of introducing regulations and safety devices like six airbags, and rather bite the bitter pill of enforcement and penalties that may affect the masses. Of course, harsh measures will face resistance and give discomfort initially, but eventually they will become a habit.

There is nothing more important than human life. The medicine, however strong, however potent, must attack the root cause. It is time to act now to address this vital problem.

The writer is President Emeritus, International Road Federation. Views expressed are personal