8 Things You Must Know About Indian Roads

Traffic jams have become a part and parcel of urban lives. While leaving for one place to another, we never forget to factor in the likely traffic jams and the delay they would cause in our journey. However, there are many other things one need to be aware of before one takes out his automobile to reach from one destination to another.

Let us list eight such facts:

Data for 1950-51 show that road length stood at four lakh kilometres (kms) during the period. By 2010-11, this length increased to 46.7 lakh kms. But, the rise in number of vehicles in the same period was nothing less than outstanding. While there were only three lakh registered vehicles in India between 1950-51, this number rose to 1,418 lakh by 2010-11.

About 1.5 lakh people die every year in five lakh road accidents in the country, according to the Ministry of Road and Transport. As a result of this, about three lakh third-party motor insurance cases are registered across Indian courts every year. It is worth mentioning here that India is a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration and plans to reduce road accidents and traffic fatalities by 50 per cent by 2022.

Data show Goa has the most number of accidents per lakh population, which is five times the national average. On the other hand, Kerala has the highest number of persons injured per lakh population while Tamil Nadu has the most fatalities per lakh population.

Most accidents occur during the peak hours in the morning and evening and morning. Naturally, urban areas have more accidents, fatalities and injuries per lakh persons.

According to PRS Research, 77 per cent road accidents between 2015 and 2016 occurred owing to the fault of the driver. Of which 47.9 per cent were due to over-speeding and 3.3 per cent due to drunken driving.

From 2009 to 2012, the number of insurance claims doubled, show PRS Research data. While 32.6 lakh claims were made in 2009, the number of insurance claims hit 64.3 lakh in 2012. Data for insurance claims is available till 2012 only.

Currently, India does not have a road safety agency and the responsibility for road safety is lies with various bodies which have no co-ordination. However, the amended Motor Vehicle Act provides for a National Road Safety Board. The board, to be set up by the Central government, will advise states on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.

Currently, there are no legally mandated standards for road design and engineering in India. However, the amended Motor Vehicle Act says that contractor or consultant responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of roads must follow norms set by the Centre. Failure to comply with such norms may cause a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh.