‘50% road accident victims are pedestrians’

Study shows that fatal accidents fell by 20% from 611 to 490 between 2015 and 2017

Pedestrians and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable when it comes to fatalities in road accidents, said officials of Bloomberg Philanthrophies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) while releasing their 2017 report on Wednesday.

The report revealed that the number of fatal accidents fell by 20% from 611 to 490 between 2015 and 2017.

‘Need for intervention’

Kelly Larson, director, BIGRS, said 90% of fatalities took place in lower and middle income countries. She said, “If evidence based interventions are not implemented, road traffic fatalities can become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030. Around 54% of the world’s population resides in cities and most cities are designed for vehicles, not pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles.”

The data showed that last year, 52% of victims in road accidents were pedestrians and 38% motorcyclists. Among the victims, 83% were men, of which 62% were in the 15 to 44 age group. Helmet use increased from 68% to 92% among bikers between 2015 and 2018. However, only 43% strapped them properly and 1% of pillion riders wore helmets.

Vaishali Mallik, associate director, Vital Strategies, South Asia said, “A mass media campaign to promote the use of helmets will begin in September.”

Brett Harman, senior road policing advisor, Global Road Safety Partnership, said, “We are creating workshops to train traffic police personnel. One of the important roles of the police is to have a conversation with an errant driver and educate them about the rules.” Dhaval Ashar, manager, Urban Transport, World Resources Institute, said, “Speed breakers can be counter productive as they are not built with the right specifications.”

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar said partnering with BIGRS has helped reduce the number of road fatalities. He said, “Effective identification of black spots, reduction of drunk driving incidents, proper use of helmets, and speed control measures have been possible. The partnership is a result of an MoU inked between BIGRS and the State government.” He said efforts are on to create awareness of helmet use among pillion riders.