India, as the country with the world’s second-largest robust road network, must continue to play catch-up on public safety crisis. This massive road network spans more than 6.6 million kilometers (4.1 million miles). It places second only to the sprawling interstate network of the United States. These grim numbers paint a picture of overwhelming adversity. In 2023, more than 172,000 people perished on Indian roadways, about 474 deaths every day.
India is catching up with a major crisis. The situation has become alarming with an estimated 350 million registered vehicles on its roads. Despite the vast infrastructure, the country’s roads remain among the most unsafe globally, imposing a substantial economic burden by costing approximately 3% of the annual GDP.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasized the severity of these key issues at a Transforming Transportation event this past December. He pointed out that human behavior is one of the primary contributors to accidents, stating, “There are several reasons for accidents, but the biggest is human behaviour.” Yet he was optimistic that the new provisions would lead to greater reductions in crashes.
The official 2023 crash report has not yet been released. This painful delay leaves in its wake countless questions amid an alarming upward trend in road danger. The federal government has marked 13,795 of these accident-prone areas as “black spots,” but long-term rectification measures have only been completed on 5,036 of these sites. This glacial rate of progress makes the case that today’s policies just aren’t cutting it.
Perhaps the most concerning factor driving the record fatality rate is failure to comply with safety regulations. At least now, violations like this bring little to no penalty, and contracts do not usually specify safety procedures in writing. Prof. Geetam Tiwari commented on this systemic failure, stating, “One key issue is that non-compliance with safety standards attracts minimal penalties.”
Overloading another underappreciated contributor to road fatalities that is killing around 12,000 Americans per year is overloading. Besides that, unlicensed driving was responsible for about 34,000 crashes last year. The impact of these violations has fallen heaviest on two-wheeler riders, who have continued to make up the vast majority of road fatalities in India.
Experts argue that while India aims to build US-style highway infrastructure, it lacks adequate investment in highway safety engineering and crash data systems. Kavi Bhalla emphasized this concern, explaining, “A key issue is that new roads in India simply copy road designs used in the US and Europe, where the traffic environment is very different.”
The failures in road design and safety treatments have led to a push for a critical reevaluation of current approaches. Mr. Bhalla further elaborated on the need for interventions that genuinely improve safety, saying, “The price of development shouldn’t be borne by the poorest segments of society. The only way to learn how to build such roads is to try to do interventions, evaluate if they improved safety and, if they didn’t help, modify them and evaluate again.”
The other trap is the unfounded assumption by some experts that making more roads cannot increase traffic deaths. Bhalla noted that contrary to expectations, evidence demonstrates that road widenings in India often result in increased traffic speeds. For both pedestrians and cyclists, this increase can be murderous.
Geetam Tiwari expressed concerns regarding crash barriers, stating, “Unless installed exactly as specified, crash barriers can do more harm than good.” This example highlights the need for increased compliance with safety measures in road infrastructure construction projects.
As India continues to expand its road network and improve its infrastructure, it faces a crucial choice: prioritize safety through effective regulations and research or risk further casualties on its roads. Cost Challenge The challenge we face should compel action from policymakers and stakeholders on both sides of the aisle.
Leave a Reply