Just days after the National Crime Records Bureau’s report was released, which said people killed in road accidents – 1,55,622 in 2021 – had risen to the highest level since 2014, Industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry, and a fellow passenger died on Sunday when the car they were traveling in collided with an accident near Palghar in Maharashtra. Police sources said that the passengers were not wearing seat belts. Raising awareness about the tragic and avoidable accident Need for car safety deployment and enforcement by road safety authorities, Today it is well understood that the use of low-cost restraint systems such as seat belts and airbag equipment has helped to effectively reduce car passenger-related deaths. The studies cited in a road safety report prepared by the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre, IIT Delhi in November 2021 estimated that “deployment of air-bags reduced mortality by 63% … lap-shoulder-belt The use of seat belts reduced the mortality rate by 72%, and the use of combined air-bags and seatbelts reduced the mortality rate by more than 80%, despite the high number of deaths related to non-compliance with seat belts. Awareness of the use of and has relatively increased over time (the Ministry of Road Transport estimated that 26,896 people were killed in accidents in 2017 due to non-use of seat belts), enforcement of belts for pillion riders. The wear has been almost non-existent. It’s a shame because a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of America shows that rear seat occupants are eight times more likely to suffer serious injury in a crash, If they weren’t bent, they did. Other factors such as proper use of the headrest can cause whiplash during accidents. It also helps in reducing injuries.
Another worrying trend identified by the IIT Delhi report is that while national highways account for only 2% of the total length of roads in India, they contribute to 36% of fatalities. While the estimated cause of passenger deaths and injuries in this particular accident was speeding, according to the NCRB’s findings that 56% of India’s road accidents in 2021 were due to overspeeding, it is also true that the police often resorted to this. There is a simple way to determine the ‘driver’s fault’ in most road accidents. The Road Safety Report suggests that the NCRB figures were very low and the only way to reduce the mortality rate was to establish evidence-based, India-specific and effective road safety policies. These include looking at overall factors such as poor road design and road maintenance and traffic infrastructure in deciding responsibility for accidents. One suggestion – removal of the median on intercity highways and replacement with steel guard rails or wire rope barriers – should also be considered.