“Before we knew it, the truck had started, and it hit me. I was on the side where it hit, and it dragged us. There were big rocks kept as dividers on the road. Thankfully we didn’t hit those. Luckily, the truck stopped because it was not in full speed. The glass which was on my side fully shattered,” narrates Jyotsna Morris.
In 2019, Jyotsna was coming from Navi Mumbai to Kandivali by an Uber cab. The road was badly jammed, and the driver decided taking the service road would be quicker, though on the wrong side. While trying to cross over to the right side, his patience gave way yet again, and finding a small gap, he shoved his car into it, resulting in the truck ramming into them.
Shaken and scared, when Jyotsna got out of the car fearing the result of the collision, the cab driver fled, leaving her standing on the side of the road. When she complained to Uber they refunded her the fare of the trip and told her they would take action internally against him.
Jyotsna had a lucky escape because the truck was not going at full speed. But many others are not so lucky. According to a 2022 report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 4,61,312 road accidents were reported by the States and Union Territories, in which 1,68,491 lives were lost and 4,43,366 injured. Moreover, the percentage of accidents increased by 11.9 as compared to 2021.
Very often traffic violations are the cause of accidents. When Citizen Matters explored the rules and process to get a driver’s licence, experts spoke to us about the urgent need for better training and implementation of rules. In this second and final part, we look at the factors resulting in accidents and recommended solutions.
Violations and road accidents
Road accidents occur for a range of reasons, depending on whom you speak to. Some common themes are corruption, lax implementation of laws, lack of civic sense, and poor infrastructure.
Violations on the road include underage driving, driving without a valid licence, drunk driving, driving on the wrong side of the road, breaking signals, driving beyond the speed limit, driving a two-wheeler without a helmet.
The Mumbai Traffic Police, responsible for ensuring the flow of traffic and for catching violations has instituted numerous ways to manage and regulate traffic such as the E-Challan—a spot fining system, and installation of CCTVs. Mumbai also has automated signals in several places to handle heavy traffic.
Despite this, traffic violations continue. “Everyone is trying to regulate traffic, to prevent traffic jams,” says Dhawal Ashar, Head-Sustainable Cities and Transport at WRI, India, pointing out that people complain about the absence of cops when traffic worsens. He questions the need for having traffic cops manage traffic when there is regulatory infrastructure such as signals and dividers for this purpose. “You can’t do regulation and enforcement at the same time,” he says.
If vehicular traffic self-regulates, the police can focus on responding to emergencies and catching violations. When the traffic police is required to manage 2.7 million vehicles in Mumbai daily, no number of cops will be enough till drivers themselves have a strong civic sense.
Read more: No city for cyclists: Enthusiasts decry lack of road safety
Lack of civic sense
“We don’t have any civic sense. People don’t follow rules and those who don’t follow rules, get benefits. This encourages others also to break rules,” says Varun Shanbhag, who drives bike and car both. Jyotsna’s experience is a case in point.
It is not just drivers whose civic sense is questionable.
It is not an uncommon sight to see pedestrians run across the road when there is a slight lull in the flow of vehicles, or even halt a moving vehicle by putting up a hand to stop the vehicle. These can cause accidents.
Chiara Gonsalves was visiting a supermarket in Goa with her father. She says, “We moved out of the parking lot and we were on a straight road. There was a man standing on the divider. So we honked, flicked our lights and gave our signals to alert him.”
She remembers seeing the man standing on the divider and the next thing she knew there was a black shape against the windshield and a scary thud. When she got out of the car and turned him over, an alcohol bottle rolled out. They took him to the hospital and the man recovered. She points out that lack of infrastructural safeguards like zebra crossings or CCTV cameras often go against the drivers.
Varun also believes that we don’t learn lessons from our experiences. He cites the example of a family in his building: the woman of the family fell while riding pillion on a bike without a helmet and is now bedridden. Yet her sons continue to ride the bike without a helmet.
He also mentions how people take a perverse pride in not wearing a helmet or driving while drunk.
Poor infrastructure and accidents
“Road quality is also a factor. The government is always looking to blame people. In Germany, if a road is accident prone, the engineering is questioned,” says Varun.
In March advocate Raju Thakker filed a petition in the Bombay High Court (HC) seeking contempt proceedings against the BMC for failure to implement the HC’s 2018 order to repair pothole-ridden roads. In response, the HC said that it cannot keep monitoring the quality of roads and it is the civic body’s responsibility to ensure motorable roads.
Varun remembers a near-fatal accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway when a buffalo came on the highway and a car hit the animal and crashed on the divider. Other drivers, including Varun, had to swerve and avoid collision. When the government charges such a high toll to use the Expressway, isn’t it their responsibility to ensure that animals don’t stray on the road?
Read more: Concretising Mumbai roads: How design can help create better road infrastructure
Challenges for RTOs
According to Gunwant Nikam, Assistant RTO at the Road Transport Office (RTO) in Andheri, electric bikes are a nuisance on the road, because they are not required to be registered nor do they have a number that can be tracked. Riders break signals, and even ride on the wrong side or on footpaths.
He also says that rash driving and underage driving are a problem. He blames parents for allowing children to drive without a licence or even gifting them such vehicles. Prashant Rane of Royal Motor Training School agrees with him, “Where do children get cars? Parents should not allow them to use these vehicles.”
Gunwant says, “Underage drivers do not have the maturity, traffic sense, or the driving experience to control high-end cars. Moreover they want to drive after they have gone clubbing. They want to show off. When you buy a high-end car like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, the company gives you training. These children have not received that training.”
He believes that licences for vehicles should be handed out in a staggered and graded fashion from the age of 16 to 24, from low-power bikes to high-end bikes, like it is done in Great Britain
Multiple factors threaten road safety and a multi-pronged approach is needed, including road safety training for drivers and pedestrians.
| Measures and possible solutions suggested by the traffic police and road safety experts |
| Parents and guardians to ensure that underage children do not drive without licence. Parents should not give their children high-end, high-power vehicles even if they have turned 18. It is recommended that such vehicles should be driven after adequate training and experience. Better infrastructure to catch violations and to regulate traffic. Awareness and educational programmes in schools and colleges. Heavily fines and/or strict punishments for speeding violations. Strict implementation of laws. It will act as a deterrent to people who might be tempted to violate laws. |