Every six seconds, someone is maimed or killed on the roads. Road safety can be defined as a set of steps taken to minimize the number of deaths and injuries from Road Traffic Injuries (RTI). Increasingly, road safety has become a major worldwide concern.

At the inquest following the first road traffic fatality in 1869, the coroner Percy Morrison reportedly said that he hoped "such a thing would never happen again". However, since then the number of fatalities from road traffic injuries has witnessed a steep rise. Almost 1.2 million deaths occur from Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) each year, of which 100,000 occur in India.

Causes of RTI

Speeding causes a large number of accidents. This is closely linked to distracted driving — distractions in the vehicle, which include mobile phones, loud music, cigarettes and other passengers — and to drunken driving. The problem is only exacerbated by the fact that very few drivers in India take any safety precaution — the seatbelt, or the helmet, or even proper maintenance of the vehicle.

Besides poor roads, we suffer from a chronic lack of traffic signals coupled with high traffic density. Public transport is a solution to traffic congestion, yet more often than not, it is poorly maintained and rashly operated.

While rudimentary laws do exist, Indian traffic laws in general are grossly inadequate and poorly enforced.

A large number of drivers in India do so without a licence and many drive beyond the speed limit. Penalties are ridiculously light, with many fatally rash drivers getting off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Addressing the issue

Celebrity endorsements have been surprisingly overlooked as a means to promoting road safety awareness. These coupled with messages on primetime slots and peer education programmes would provide accessible awareness of road safety. Role-plays, movies and field trips could be used as learning tools in schools, especially for young children. This programme can be extended to adults at the workplace.

There is a dire need for stricter laws particularly with regard to licensing for young drivers. Random breath tests to determine blood alcohol levels and regular maintenance checks have also been effective in improving road safety. Laws could also require every driver to prominently display his/her license on the windscreen of his/her vehicle.

A number of accidents involving children occur when they are playing. There is, therefore, a need for monitored crossings near schools and safe, supervised playing areas. Roads must be improved and an efficient, well-maintained system of public transport created.

Speed breakers in accident-prone areas have substantially reduced RTIs . Speed governors in vehicles would provide an inexpensive solution to speeding.

The saddest aspect of RTI is that they are avoidable. This would require concerted efforts by the authorities, by celebrities and by every one of us.