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Few years ago, a friend of mine, Brazilian, remarked - "Indian roads are the closest to anarchy that I have ever felt". Incidentally, last month, the famous comic from US, Gabriel Iglesias aka Fluffy after his visit to India, made a 25-minute-long stand-up about his experience on the same issue. Anyone who has ever been on the road in India would agree that we are not necessarily sticklers when it comes to following traffic rules. This attitude comes at a price.

Road Accidents – Major Cause of Deaths in India

According to a 2018 report by the Ministry of Transport and Highways, India ranks first out of 199 countries in the number of road accident deaths. The largest number of all deaths in the country happen not because of war or epidemics, but due to road accidents. Over 1.5 lakh deaths and 4.5 lakh injuries due to road accidents were reported in 2018. Two-wheeler drivers constitute over 30 per cent and working age people, between 18-60 years, account for 82 per cent of all deaths. The report also states that 62 per cent of deaths happen on National and State highways, which comprise 5 per cent of road network of India. Most of these deaths happen due to traffic rule violations - Over-speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road, use of mobile phone while driving, and drunken driving being the major causes. Driving without helmet and seat belt also contribute to this enormous number.

Stricter Rules Now, need Compliance

The Union Government brought out the Motor Vehicle Act in 2019, which faced much criticism due to inordinate rise in fines for a wide range of offences on the road. Petty offences, which did not constitute a fine earlier, now claim Rs. 500. The fine for driving without a valid license has increased from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000. Fine for drunken driving has been increased to Rs. 10,000 (for first offence) to Rs. 15,000 (for subsequent offences) and includes jail time as well. In light of the above statistics on road accidents, injuries and deaths, there is no doubt that stricter laws are needed to be implemented for overall safety and security on Indian roads and to enable behavioural change.

If one looks closely enough, there is a set pattern of how people drive, especially during peak hours. Regular drivers on a particular route know which signal generally has traffic police stationed; where can one break another law by riding behind a bigger vehicle; and how one can take advantage of the few seconds before the signal turns green for the other side on a cross road to jump their own red signal, saving the most precious 35 seconds of their lives, which would be lost had they waited for their own signal. In the prevalence of such driving ethos, even shock and awe techniques like raising fines by over ten times, do not have a long shelf-life. They need to be supported by other factors essential for ensuring compliance leading to a gradual change in attitude.

My Personal Experience

For the past few months, I have been driving 20 kilometres daily to and from work and have been a keen observer of how people drive in Delhi. The Motor Vehicle Act was passed in this period and the first thing that one could notice from 1st September onwards was a significantly higher presence of traffic police on the road with scores of offenders lining up to pay up the new hefty fines. There were some trainee/contractual type regulators as well, keeping a close eye on the road. News about the man who forfeited his scooter when charged a cumulative fine of 23 thousand rupees provided meme fodder which outraged some and chuckled others.

Having driven on European roads and experiencing the ease of driving when everyone follows rules, it was refreshing to see that people began mending their ways, particularly stopped jumping signals, driving on the wrong side of the road and wearing helmet. Once I even saw three people wearing helmet on a single motorbike. At least if caught for tripling, they would be exonerated from paying for driving without helmet.
The responsiveness, however, is gradually waning after the initial weeks, as did the presence of traffic police personnel. Four months after the Act was implemented, the situation on the roads is turning back to its earlier form. Talking just about the seven signals that I cross to reach work; people confidently jump the red light in the ones where there are no traffic police usually. If on some days, they find someone stationed there, the rate of compliance increases substantively.

It is not as if people are not aware that gradually cameras and other speed checking devices are being installed along the road. Many people have started receiving e-challans as well. Yet, old habits die hard and seeing a traffic police in their white and navy dress with a challan machine in hand makes real impact.

Factors affecting Achieving Road Safety

Public employment is essential for the delivery of necessary public services, is associated with better quality of life for the entire society and responsible for ensuring welfare. Currently, most government departments face acute staff shortage and the percentage of vacant posts against sanctioned posts has been on a rise for quite some time. Shortly after the new Act was passed, it was reported that there are only 72 thousand traffic police for nearly 2 crore vehicles in the country. There is a stark shortage of personnel in big cities, more-so in tier-2 cities, but the highways, which constitute 62 per cent of deaths, are almost traffic police mukt zones.

Looking at the stark statistics of accidents, injuries and deaths in the country, and the positive impact of the presence of traffic police on the road in disciplining Indian drivers, it is strongly recommended that mass training and recruitment of traffic police must be happen in the country. In fact, in this present case, we require not only a filling of vacant positions but sanctioning more positions as well, in order to ensure compliance of road safety measures and bring about behavioural change.
In addition to increased fines and traffic police presence, there are at least three factors which are essential in making a difference in this situation - Improving infrastructure, rolling out safer cars and conducting intensive IEC (information, education and communication) campaigns. The severity of the problem has been recognised and the first step has been taken in the form of increasing fines. It is now time for the government to step up its game to make real, long-lasting impact and save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors, and don’t necessarily reflect the position of CBGA. You can reach Vijayta Mahendru at vijayta@cbgaindia.org.