Road Safety – A National Need
Fatalities on Indian roads are increasing by 8% every year. 85% of all accidents on the roads happen because of improper human behavior. Thus improving behavior on the roads is critical for ensuring road safety. However a consensus cannot be reached on how to improve people’s behavior. While one option is by educating people as the way forward in improving road safety, other alternatives can be better infrastructure and enforcement of road safety laws. Education, enforcement of laws, quality of vehicles, timely evacuation and emergency care can be crucial for improving road safety.
Traditionally, road safety has been seen as an unfortunate consequence of a transport system and as a problem for the transport sector. However, the direct costs of the growing number of crashes falls mostly on the health sector, businesses and families. Today it is widely acknowledged that many sectors have a role to play in road safety, especially in the prevention of crashes, deaths and injuries. Different sectors of society should come forward and join hands in this direction to make Indian roads a safer journey. NGOs can play a significant role in raising mass awareness and bringing about behavior change through advocacy and training programs.
Rural Development Institute participated in the recently conducted Road Safety Forum – 2016 organized by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. RDI shared its efforts towards Road Safety at National Level elaborating upon raising awareness among drivers, conductors as primary responders to any road mishap.
142 drivers and conductors from 3 districts of Pauri, Rudraprayag and Dehradun have been trained at RDI on first aid and immediate safety measures to be taken at the site of road accidents. The efforts were applauded as being one of the few exemplary efforts in the country.
Important slogans for road safety-
• Don’t mix drinking and driving.
• Seat belt saves life, always buckle it.
• Always wear helmet while on two-wheeler.
• Never use mobile phone while driving.
• Get your vehicle checked regularly.
• Find a safe place to cross the road.
• When on the road, always say “Pehle Aap”