‘Drunk driving main reason behind road mishaps’

LUCKNOW : The main reasons behind road crashes in India are over-speeding, bad weather, drunk driving, driving under influence of drugs, lack of sleep (drowsiness), talking on cell phone, distractions, recklessness and road hazards.

These reasons were identified at a daylong online symposium titled “Mahatma Gandhi’s Principles: In the Perspective of Alcoholism and Road Crashes” jointly organised by IIT Kanpur and La Trobe University to mark the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on Sunday.

According to experts, drunk driving is a major cause of road crashes in India. Moreover, the drivers who hold valid driving licenses are responsible for a majority (approximately 80 percent) of accidents in the country.

The symposium was organised by Prof Murali Prasad of the department of Economic

Sciences at IIT-Kanpur and was a part of the ongoing project titled “The socio-economic costs of road crashes in India evaluation of the role of ex-ante and ex-post policies”, under the scheme for promotion of academic and research collaboration (SPARC).

Prof Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT-K, in his inauguration speech stressed on the need for such cross-border research.

“On the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, it is indeed pertinent to evaluate how meaningful his principles are even after almost seventy years since his demise. Gandhi was against the consumption of alcohol and in this context, the symposium has brought together various voices and sides to the issue of road safety and alcoholism,” he said.

The aim of this symposium was to create awareness among the stakeholders and to enhance the existing networks to reduce accident rates in India, said Prof Prasad.