Opinion - Editorials

Safe roads and sane cities

If an illustration were needed to demonstrate that John Galbraith's famous characterisation of India as a "functioning anarchy" still applies, it would be the roads and traffic. Six million new automobiles were added to the vehicle population in the country last year and thousands more continue to be registered every day, mostly in urban centres groaning under the weight of chaos, gridlock, and accidents. The vehicle boom in India and the growing national fatality rate — touching 80,000 road accident deaths a year — are the subject of international research. Some professional journals forecast that Indian accident rates may not decline for nearly 40 years at current rates of economic growth unless policies on infrastructure, safety engineering, and enforcement undergo major change. The accident rate appears deceptively similar to some countries in an absolute sense, but such comparisons are misleading because more Indians are killed or injured in relation to the vehicle population and miles travelled than road users elsewhere. Many of the accident victims live in large cities growing without the benefit of planning. The general lack of concern for road safety is reflected in the marginalisation in policy formulation of those sections of road users who do not use powered vehicles. Pedestrians and bicycle riders are unable to use the cities confidently and can only look up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) to give them their share of space — footpaths and dedicated cycling pathways. The trend of local governments in many countries shrinking or removing such public facilities in favour of users of motorised vehicles has been strongly deplored by the World Health Organisation. The NURM can greatly enhance safety for all by investing not just in road systems, but also in public transport and infrastructure to promote walking and cycling.

In the quest for individual protection, there are two cost-effective, invaluable devices available to motorists — the crash helmet for two-wheeler riders, and the seat belt in cars. Despite their proven role in saving lives, they are not used widely because there is, for the most part, no legal compulsion to do so in India. In the case of seat belts, the experience in the United States indicates that strong laws alone can bring about near-total compliance. Two-wheeler dependent societies such as Taiwan and Italy could achieve a remarkable reduction in deaths and serious injury from accidents only when they made helmet use compulsory by law. With clinching evidence staring them in the face, it defies reason that most State Governments have refused to act to strengthen and enforce laws on seat belts and helmets. Judicial activism and intervention in what is clearly an area of legislative and executive responsibility may be the only way of forcing a change in thinking and practice.

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