Examining Road Safety through the Prism of Road Traffic Violations

More information

Main author

Baluja, R.

Co-Authors

-

Type of media

PDF

Publication type

Lecture

Publication year

2011

Publisher

20. EVU Conference, Graz

Citation

Baluja, R.: Examining Road Safety through the Prism of Road Traffic Violations. 20. EVU Conference, Gratz

Road safety in India is unsatisfactory and requires immediate attention. India is a major developing country and has the world’s worst road safety record. The Government of India reports over 126,800 road accident fatalities in 2009 (NCRB 2010), which accounts for 10% of 1.2 million fatalities worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that, if no immediate action is taken there will be a 65% increase in these statistics by 2020 (WHO 2004). Traditionally, road safety is gauged by taking into account factors such as the number of road crashes, the rate of road traffic injuries (RTIs) and the rate of fatalities. Studies in developed countries have shown that road crashes result from both known and unknown factors. Scientifically conducted investigations in developed countries have led to the identification of underlying causes of road crashes and allowed authorities to devise and implement countermeasures to these and thereby improve road safety (Jacobs and Baguely 2004, ITE 2007).
In developing countries, such as India, crashes are rarely investigated and analysed through scientific means to determine their cause and impact. Instead, there is a general tendency on the part of police and authorities to attribute accidents mostly to human error. While many studies on road crashes around the world have produced a good understanding of factors leading to crashes involving human errors, there is still a greater need to acquire an insight into the role of faulty road environment, including traffic control devices, in the causation of violations and accidents. To achieve the above, it was felt necessary to develop a systematic methodology to assess violations committed by the road users and the contribution of the defective road environment to these violations. Such a methodology could be used to evaluate the state of road safety in urban areas like Delhi, and also other developing countries with the same road traffic conditions.