Why India’s roads are among the world’s deadliest

Every morning newspapers in India are full of reports on road accidents. Passenger buses are filled with two -wheeled cars that collapse with mountain canyons, drunk drivers who cut pedestrians, cars facing fixed trucks, and two -wheeled cars falling down by larger vehicles.

This everyday tragedy emphasizes the crisis of silence. In 2023, more than 172,000 people lost their lives on the Indian road, with an average of 474 people or almost one every three minutes.

The official crash report in 2023 has not been announced yet, but the road transportation and highway minister Nitin Gadkari cited this data. Paint the cruel picture At the road safety event in December.

That year, there were 10,000 children who died. Accidents near schools and universities occupied 10,000 people, and 35,000 pedestrians lost their lives. The two -wheel car rider also gave birth to the cruelty of the dead. Excessive speed is usually the biggest cause.

The lack of basic safety prevention measures also turned out to be fatal. 16,000 people died because 54,000 people did not wear helmets and did not wear seat belts.

Other major causes include overload, and 12,000 people were killed and 34,000 conflicts were recognized as a valid license operation. Driving from the wrong side also contributed to the dead.

In 2021, 13%of the accidents were associated with a driver who was granted a learner or without a valid license. Many cars on the road have been old and have been omitted as well as the airbags as well as basic safety functions such as seat belts.

This dangerous road environment is more complicated by the chaotic traffic mixes of India.

Embarrassed users crowd the roads of India. There are electric vehicles such as cars, buses and motorcycles that compete for space with non -powerless transports such as bicycles, cycle rickshaws and handkates, green carts, pedestrians and lost animals. Hawkers infringe on roads and sidewalks, selling fugives, force pedestrians on busy roads, and more complicated traffic flow.

Despite the effort and investment, the roads in India are one of the most unmanned roads in the world. Experts say that this is a crisis that is rooted in human behavior, execution gap and systematic neglect, as well as infrastructure. Road collisions impose a serious economic burden Indian costs are 3%of the annual GDP.

There is in India The world’s second largest road networkImmediately after the United States, 6.6m kilometers (4.1m mile). National and State Highway sights together about 5%of the entire network, while other roads, including Access -Controlled Express Weys, describe the rest. There are about 350 million registered vehicles.

GADKARI says there are many road accidents in the road safety meeting because people have no respect and fear of the law.

“There are some reasons for the accident, but the biggest is human action,” he said.

But it is just part of the picture. Last month, GADKARI pointed out Poor civil engineering practices -Road design with defects, standard construction and weak management -the main contributions of the high road accident rates with surprisingly high road accidents with inappropriate signs and indications.

“The most important culprit is civil engineer. Even small things like road signs and marking systems are very poor in this country.”

His ministry has been reported since 2019 59 Main defects on national highwaysGADKARI spoke to Congress last month, including Cave-Ins. of 13,795 people are likely to accidents “black spots”Only 5,036 people went through a long stop.

For many years, the road safety audit conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) deli’s traffic research and injury prevention center (Trip) has found serious defects in the road infrastructure in India.

Take a collision barrier. They are to securely prevent vehicles that are lost on the road without turning the vehicle upside down. But in many places they are the opposite.

Despite the clear standards for height, interval and installation, ground reality often tells different stories. It is mounted or not properly deployed on a metal barrier of the wrong height, a concrete base. These flaws can turn over the vehicles, especially trucks or buses without stops safely.

GEETAM TIWARI, a professor of civil engineering at IIT Delhi, said, “If it is not installed as specified, the collision barrier can harm more than good.

Then the tall center value or road distributor is called locally. On the highway, the center value must be gently separated from the traffic that moves in the opposite direction. They should not be taller than 10cm (3.9in), but there are many people according to thanksgiving.

When the tire of the high -speed vehicle hits the vertical center value, a heat is generated, the tire burst is risked, or the vehicle is lifted up to a dangerous rollover. Many central values ​​in India are not simply designed with these threats in mind.

It is a clear example that the highway near Delhi, the capital, increases. The roads are sliced ​​through the settlement destinations on both sides without safety measures to protect the residents. The high -speed traffic is crying, and many people stand in jeopardy at the center.

Then there is a increased roadway. In many rural roads, the main roads are towering over 6 to 8 inches over their shoulders.

Suddenly falling can be fatal. Especially when the driver pops out to avoid obstacles. Two wheel cars are the most dangerous, but even cars can skid, tip or overturn. Experts say the risks continue to increase when all classes are added.

Obviously, the road design standards in India are firm on paper but are not well implemented on the ground.

Professor Tiwari said, “It is not to be punished by not complying with safety standards. The contract often does not clearly explain these requirements, and the payment is related to the kilometer that is generally composed of not complying with safety norms.

GADKARI recently announced Ambitious plan to upgrade the 25,000 km of the two -lane highway Four lanes. “This will help significantly reduce road thinking,” he said.

Experts like Kavi Balla of the University of Chicago are skeptical. Bhalla, who worked for road safety in low -income and intermediate income countries, argues that road designs often imitate the Western model by ignoring the country’s unique traffic and infrastructure demands.

“There is no reason to believe that traffic death will decrease due to the expansion of roads. There is a lot of evidence that the road upgrade in India is fatal to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcycle drivers.”

Bhalla said, “The main problem is that the new roads in India are simply copying road designs used in the United States and Europe with very different traffic environments, but India tries to build an infrastructure for US style highway, but does not invest in the US style highway safety engineering research and crash data system.

In order to solve the noble road safety crisis, the government is “implementing” “5ES” strategy: road engineering, vehicle engineering, education, execution and emergency treatment. KK KAPILA of the International Road Federation says. (According to the report of the Indian Law Commission, timely emergency medical services were able to save 50%of road crashes.)

Kafila is helping the federal government to plan road safety. He said seven major states have been asked to identify stretches that are most likely to occur. After implementing a goal intervention based on the 5ES framework, this stretch has become a “safest” state in the state.

Most economists agree that building more roads is the key to India’s growth, but it should not be prioritized by sustainable and lives of pedestrians and bicycle drivers.

“The development price should not be burdensome by the poorest part of society. The only way to learn how to build such a road is to try mediation, improve safety, evaluate it is not helpful, revise and evaluate it again.” Otherwise, the road will be smoother and the car will be faster and more people will die.

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