Data on Road Accidents in India is alarming. It is in the order of several years. You check on the data of Lose Prevention Association, Sion, India. When I refer to International data, it is equally bad in many countries. What are the suggestions to the public to reduce the accidents on roads?
There is a very broad body of work in this area, as it is recognised as a global problem including a recent Editorial in The Economist.
I would suggest searching under Community Road Safety, and you will find many papers to start. Our review paper, listed below, can be downloaded from my RG page. This review summarised a wide range of public-private initiatives.
• Horberry, T., Harris, J., Shi, M., Kirsch, P., Rifkin, W. and Harris, A. 2014. Community Road Safety Initiatives for the Minerals Industry. Minerals 2014, 4, 1-16; doi:10.3390/min4010001
Necessary on the basis of detailed statistical crash data to develop a national program to improve road safety and vney specify the list of measures to reduce accidents, financing, decision makers, etc.
I would suggest some level of attention be given to preparing for the autonomous vehicle. Support its development by your car makers, set up national standards, encourage trial areas and applications, etc. Without preparation, the technology will arrive and pressure you into ill-conceived compromises thereby diminishing its acceptance (etc). The sooner (or more rapidly) this technology is made ready and adopted, the faster your accident rates will fall. I am working with a co-author re this issue and will publish an e-book soon.
In short term, improving the traffic design (road alignment, the use of traffic sign, traffic signal etc) is a good start. In the long run, a accident database is needed. Based on data analysis, the hazardous sites can be identified and specific countermeasures can be developed. Better driving behavior is another key. Proper education to the drivers is needed.
Sir, In our country we have mixed traffic conditions. The accidents can be reduced by strict enforcement of law and proper education to all. Moreover the motor vehicle act need to be completely changed and updated according to current road and vehicle standards.
Common to any country recommendations formulated in the "Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020,.". Find it on the website of the United Nations, as it is in my opinion on the site of the World Health Organization.
After spending about 5 years in the developed world, working there on road safety issues and then coming back to India again, I have observed certain things which if followed by Indian public, can reduce the accidents on roads significantly. Some of them are as follows:
1) Do not go for rash driving, it leads to overspeeding which ultimately can turn into a severe accident resulting to even death. Start early from your home/origin to reach your destination.
2) Respect traffic signal and signs, do not disregard them. Do not enter the intersection during red light (red light running), it leads to severe right angle accidents. Revised motor vehicles act is going to cost a huge amount if you go for red light violations and are caught by the enforcement officers.
3) If you are a driver, develop a mentality of sharing the roads with non-motorized road users and pedestrians. Always remember that when you are siting inside the metal body of a vehicle, you are much much safer than the people riding a bi-cycle/pedestrian.
4) Do not drink and drive. If your friend is drunk, do not let him/her show his/her driving skills behind the wheel (vehicle steering).
5) Do not simply think that seat belts are some unnecessary components which help local police department raise some money. They save our lives by not allowing our body move out of the seat during/after an impact with another vehicle/fixed object. Make a habit of using seat-belt all the time, let us not use it only when we are approaching a city having good enforcements.
6) Learn driving properly and get a driving license in an appropriate way. Do not look for some options of obtaining licenses where you do not need to write an exam or appear for a road test. Shortcuts do not work all the time.
7) Do not use cellphone while driving (even with hands-free/Bluetooth). They distract your mind when your are driving the vehicle and using cellphone simultaneously. Revised motor vehicles act is going to penalize you heavily if you are caught by police officers while driving and using cellphone.
8) If you have a two-wheeler, use helmets always particularly if you are traveling on highways and do not forget to fasten them. If they are not fastened, they are not effective in saving your head when you fall on the ground/hit something hard.
9) Educate others about these steps.
There are many more...
Finally, it should be mentioned that the process of reducing the number of road accidents in any country does not only involve the steps taken up by general public, rather it can only achieved through a combined effort of several other concerned authorities (Police, Engineers, Policy Makers, etc.) also.
Adding to previous comments, I woould like to suggest to undertake studies on how to change people's behavior facing road risks. It could particularly be useful to integrate people's beliefs regarding risks and accidents, their perception of risks and their spontaneous (or naive) explanation of accidents. These elements could be used to design targeyted preventive messages they could perceive as more relevant. See Kouabenan, 1998, 2009, etc. See also work on protection adoption process (Weinstein, Dejoy, Scwarzer, etc.).
Sirs,
I have attached a PPT, which I have been using in "Road Safety Exhibition", organized in different Institutions. I prepared it with photos seen in internet and e-mail.
Regards,
Dr.S.Ravindran
According to Me..
Need strong governing system for traffic control. In India only few peoples are following all traffic rule.
I am agree with Mr Nishant that in India strong traffic rules must be implemented, not like now that on traffic checking and collecting money. There is need of people perception to follow the rules of traffic. In India people know that no strict action will be taken hardly some fine. If the same people (Indian) visit in Europe they will follow every thing because of follow of strict rule.
you must use new technologies like Intelligent transportation systems
I greatly recommnend you to study the beliefs of indian people about road accidents and road risks and to design preventive actions and messages aiming at changing unsafe beliefs and strengthning safe behaviors. You may investigate what are their peceptions of traffic-related risks and also, what I call the naive causal explanations they gave to road accidents, i.e, spontaneous explanataion of road accidents. I am convinced that to be efficient, prevention messages should take into account the sociognitive functionning of the target people, i.e. their beliefs, perceptions and behaviors facing risks. You can find some references on this in my work.
In addition to the above recommendations I would add that reduction in speed limits and strict enforcement with heavy fines for abusers of rules.
The extra fines would pay for extra enforcement officers, but people would hesitate to speed if they know they may get caught and pay fines.
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