The Unpleasant Deaths.

Around 1.46 lakh people were killed in road accidents in India last year and globally. Road traffic injury is the number one killer of adolescents aged 15-17. In terms ofnumbers, India has more road accidents deaths than anywhere else in the world. One person dies in a road accident every four minutes. Not just that, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of pedestrian deaths in road accidents in the country rose to 7,088 in 2015 from 6,690 . India accounts for one-fifth of global deaths due to road accidents with over 20 million hospitalised each year.In 2017, over 1.5 lakh people were killed in nearly 5 lakh road accidents across the country, which means on an average 17 people die every hour in India in road accidents.

This problem can only be reduced with strict rules and regulations regarding motor vehicle and the drivers . Our country needs is stringent penalties on road and traffic violations, streamlining the procedure regarding registration of vehicles and issuing of driving licenses.

Quality of roads, which has a huge impact on safety, has seen a marked improvement over the years. But quality and safety are still very much works in progress and India cannot afford to take its eyes off the road.

India, despite having around 230 million registered vehicles, does not have a national road safety policy. The only legislation to deal with road safety is the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. An amendment was proposed to the law to ensure children’s safety while commuting, increase penalties in line with inflation, ensure liability of road contractors, digitise the licensing system and to recall old vehicles that do not adhere to safety norms. Along with that India is also a signatory to the 2015 United Nations Brasilia declaration, which aims to cut road traffic deaths and injuries by half by 2020.

However all these rules and regulation will only have its full impact if the citizens of this country follow them honestly . One reason for bad driving habits is that most people do not go through formal driving lessons before getting a licence. Getting riders to wear helmets and those travelling by car to wear seat belts, simple as they may seem, has proved to be challenging.

Most of India’s roads do not benefit the fastest-growing major economy and way too many people lose their lives in accidents. But there are certainly signs of change and hope of the better .