WHO exposes poor road rule compliance

The ‘Global Status report on road safety 2015’ released by the world body on Monday, also made a shocking revelation that casualty figures mentioned in the WHO report was 46 per cent

more than the statistics released by NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) in 2014.

According to the report, over two lakh of the total 1.25 million road accident deaths occurring worldwide, are in India. The WHO study, which puts the casualty rate at 17 per one lakh, has concluded that about 34% of the accident victims (casualties) in the country are two-wheeler or three-wheeler riders, while truck drivers and passengers accounted for 13 per cent, followed by passengers of cars and other light vehicles, which were put at 10 per cent.

A grim reminder of the plight of pedestrians in the country was evident from the fact that nine per cent of the casualties, as per the report, are pedestrians. The premier health watchdog of the world aptly summed up the appalling state of traffic rule enforcement in the country by giving a paltry four on a scale of 10 under safe road use, drunk driving, motorcycle helmet and seat belt law enforcement respectively. WHO estimates that road traffic crashes contribute to nearly three per cent loss to the national GDP.

Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, a NGO working on road safety, responded to the report saying; “The report should be an eye-opener for our law makers, as it categorically states that the Indian road safety laws do not meet the best practice requirements for four out of five risk factors: enforcing speed limits, prevention of drunk driving, safety of children and use of helmets. Even for seat belts, where the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is in consonance with the Who standards, the enf orcement is poor. India has a pathetic score of four out of 10. With regard to vehicle safety, India meets only two out of the seven vehicle safety standards.”