The State must ensure safe mobility options

Sixteen labourers died and five others were hurt after a truck in which they were travelling overturned in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Sunday. On the same day, in another road mishap, 14 people were killed and four others injured after a minibus collided with a truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district. These two accidents are a stark reminder that India’s roads have become death traps. Last week, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari acknowledged the dire situation, and said that India’s road accident scenario is more “dangerous than the Covid-19 pandemic”.

According to a just-released World Bank report, Traffic Crash Injuries And Disabilities: The Burden on Indian Society, despite having only 1% of the world’s vehicles, India accounts for the highest number of road accidents globally, killing 150,000 people and leaving more than 450,000 with disabilities every year. The poor suffer the most. More than 75% of poor households reported a decline in their income due to a road mishap. Low-income households (LIHS) reported twice the numbers of deaths post-crash vis-à-vis high-income households, while victims from LIHS and rural areas are also twice more likely to suffer a disability after a crash than high-income households.

The State must provide safe mobility options and better roads; regularly conduct road safety audits; overhaul the accident response systems; scrutinise detailed project reports on road construction; conduct fitness checks of on-road vehicles; and push auto manufacturers to ensure better safety features. But first, India must accept that the accidents on its roads now constitute a serious public health crisis.