A high vehicle population or road density isn’t the main contributor to road accidents and fatalities in India as rising cases of road accidents were observed in rural areas, where the number of cars is comparatively lower. This indicates that lack of road traffic education and lax enforcement of traffic rules were the key causes.

“The ratio of accidents in rural and urban areas was around 54:46 in 2015. I believe lack of traffic education was the main culprit,” says Mahesh Rajoria, senior advisor, Driving Training, Maruti Suzuki India. According to him, pedestrian training where people are made aware of the dangers and the use of roads is as important as driver training in preventing accidents.

Road accidents have been on the rise in India. The total number of road accidents in 2015 increased by 2.5 per cent to 5,01,423, up from 4,89,400 in 2014, according to the Ministry Of Road Transport & Highways. Fatalities arising out of road accidents have been alarmingly high, and are sadly increasing. For instance, they rose from 1,39,671 deaths in 2014 to 1,46,133 in 2015.

In an effort to create awareness among the motorists and the general public about the high incidents of road accidents in the country, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways kicked off the annual Road Safety Week on January 9, 2017.

Rajoria welcomed the government’s decision to make speed warning systems with audible beeps as standard on cars from October 2017. Ministry data suggests that road accidents caused and persons killed due to overspeeding accounted for over 62 per cent of the accidents in the country last year.

The government also plans to make it mandatory for automakers to equip cars with airbags, rearview sensors and seatbelt reminder as standard fitment, according to reports. For new cars, the rules will be applicable from October 2018.

Car manufacturers globally have come under fire for putting road safety at risk by equipping cars with in-car infotainment systems that are prone to distract drivers. Talking about the issue, Rajoria says, “Distraction is always dangerous. While there is no such study for users in India, in the UK there was a study done in which they found that 26 percent of the crashes happened because of use of mobile while driving like answering a call or texting a message. Hence, it is important that we discourage people from using cell phones.”

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