State opts for 15-day road safety programme…….SANJAY BANERJEE
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to hold a 15-day road safety awareness programme instead of the customary road safety week held annually in the first week of January.
Home minister R R Patil, who chaired a meeting on the issue, said he wanted extended awareness, with a thrust on educating people about road safety, as one week was too short for a lasting impact. The programme may be the first of its kind in the state.
A recent report stated that roads in Mumbai were highly accident-prone, and tops the country with 34.11 % mishaps on its 1,899-km roads. The home department has informed the police department about the government’s decision .
There was a proposal initially to hold a fortnight of safety awareness from mid-December. However, it was decided to hold it in January, to coincide it with national road safety week.
A report by the transport research wing of the Union ministry of road transport and highways stated that 29,781 accidents were reported in the city in 2008. The statistics were presented in a booklet prepared by the Belapur NGO, Sunder Suraksha, which deals with health, safety and environment. The document, released to the media recently in connection with a one-day workshop on road safety by the NGO in Navi Mumbai, also gave data of the year-wise break-up of fatalities reported in Mumbai.
According to Vehicle Fatal report 2001-2010 (March) obtained by filing an RTI in 2008, 2009 and 2010 (till March), 622, 628 and 152 persons were killed. Sunder Suraksha chief executive Lakshman Thakur said the RTI was filed by a Pune resident. The statistics show that the maximum number of accidents in the three years was by four-wheelers, which also killed the most people. While 428 accidents were reported in 2008 by four-wheelers, killing 458 people, the accidents reported in 2009 was 408, killing 422 , and in 2010 (till March), 102 accidents led to the death of 107.
The data also showed that 588 accidents were reported in 2008; it increased to 607 in 2009 and was 147 in 2010 (March). Thakur said, “If we analyze the statistics state-wise, four contribute almost 52% of all accidents-Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh (13.7 % each), Uttar Pradesh (12.5 %) and Tamil Nadu (12 %).
Navi Mumbai has also shot into the limelight because of large number of accidents in the area. high-speed vehicular traffic that has claimed several thousand lives in 2001-2010.
As per data provided by the Navi Mumbai police traffic cell, 1,819 fatal accidents from 2006 till 2010 (till November) claimed 1,982 lives. A total of 2,826 serious accidents have been reported during the same period, which led to 4,211 people sustaining serious injuries. As for 2010 (till November), 383 people died and 782 were seriously injured in road accidents (the data is collected from January to December, which constitutes annual figures).
The US National Safety Council, in its report , said that China and India report the most road deaths. In 2007, about 1,96,000 people in India were killed in road accidents, according to WHO figures.
While the police are grappling with accidents on the roads of the satellite city, the death of 10, including nine of a family of Mumbai, following a collision between their Tavera and a bus recently, and a head-on collision between two buses near Kolad, on the Mumbai-Goa highway in November, in which three persons were killed and 26 were injured, served as brute reminders of deaths on the roads.
Navi Mumbai police commissioner Ahmad Javed said, “As a nation, we are on the higher side of road accidents internationally.”
The US National Safety Council, which has a charter from Congress since 1913, authorizing it to work on safety, and is considered a global leader in safety services with around 55,000 companies as members, participated in the workshop.
The council stated in its report that China and India report the most road deaths. In 2007, about 1,96,000 people in India were killed in road accidents, according to the World Health Organization and over 500,000 people suffered injuries, the report said.
Roger Marks, president of the International Safety Council (external wing of the US council), said they were looking at India in a big way, planning strategic partnerships with the government and the private sector in view of the significant number of deaths in road accidents.
The council trains 1.7 million annually through more than 25 defensive driving courses and has trained over 60 million worldwide since 1964.
The study by the US council stated, “Statistics indicate that driver error causes 70% of motor vehicle collisions,” which is corroborated by a Raigad police study, which added that overtaking was the main reason for fatal mishaps.
The defensive driving course underscores the need for a change in attitude. “Problem drivers may lack safe driving skills, but most often it is their attitude that leads to dangerous driving behaviour. This course helps problem drivers make a direct connection between their attitude and behaviour behind the wheel,” the council noted.