Number of deaths on roads is not decreasing, National Road Traffic Injury Surveillance System will have to be created
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways constantly expresses concern that despite all efforts, the number of road accidents and the loss of life in them is not decreasing. Of course, the negligence of drivers towards traffic rules is a major reason, but at the same time the problem is also that the government has not been able to improve the necessary mechanism for monitoring and improvement till now.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways regularly shows concern that, notwithstanding all these initiatives, accidents and deaths in them are not reducing. Of course, drivers' oversight of traffic rules is a primary cause, but simultaneously, the issue is that to date, the government has not been capable of enhancing the required mechanism of checking and improvement.
In the report of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Center of IIT Delhi, concern has been expressed that India does not yet have a National Road Traffic Injury Surveillance System.
It is ironic that the data of the states does not match with the portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. In the India Status Report on Road Safety-2024 report, experts have asserted that there is a need for a dependable accident data system for every facet of operating a successful road safety program.
It is necessary to develop strategies to assess accident risks, identify disruptions and allocate resources with the most effective approach. Accurate assessment and monitoring of these aspects is necessary for road safety management, what is the number of deaths or injuries in accidents?
What is the prevalence of helmet use and what is the status of enforcement. Experts have admitted that all this requires confirmed data. The report has revealed that India does not have a National Road Traffic Injury Monitoring System. At the national level and in most states, details of traffic accidents are prepared in such a way that cannot be used for policy planning.
For example, based on data obtained from FIRs, this IIT report says that trucks have the biggest role in fatal accidents, whereas such information is not available in the annual report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Not only this, the ministry has suggested the Integrated Road Accident Database and the e-Detailed Accident Report System to the states. In these, data is collected through the police, hospital, and transport department. States are gradually implementing it, but its reliability also seems to be in doubt.
In fact, an example has been given in the report itself that a lot of difference has been found between the accidents reported in the data of Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh and the information recorded in the EDAR system.
The experts who prepared this report have advised that, along with creating a road traffic injury surveillance system at the national level, capacity will have to be developed at the state level to collect high-quality data.
There should be a classification in it as to which accidents were more fatal and which were less. Along with this, the need to establish accident monitoring units at the state level has been stated, so that the capacity to do statistical analysis of the data is also developed.
