India’s road accident tally is second highest in the world with over 96,000 people killed on roads in 2005. The unabated rise in the figures indicate that India may overtake China at the top spot once the figures for 2006 are out.

While countries across the world are undertaking extensive research works on road safety measures, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways got the last research on road accidents done in 1995. Accident figures have more than doubled in the last decade.

The number of accidents per lakh population has risen from 38.1 in 1995 to 39.9 in 2005. The Ministry recently shared the findings of the decade-old study, titled ‘Establishment of System for Identification and Rectification of Accident Black Spots’, in the Lok Sabha after a query was raised on whether it had studied accident causes on National Highways.

In his reply, Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyaapa said the maximum number of accidents, especially fatal, occurred on straight stretches due to high speed. “Four-arm junctions were most accident prone, pedestrians most vulnerable and trucks were involved in most night accidents. Negligence and over-speeding were found to be the causes of 90 per cent of accidents,” says the study.

While the Minister’s reply had no mention of any rectification undertaken on the 15 National Highways under the study, he placed the onus on state Governments, saying safety of road users is their responsibility. “But on our part we have taken several steps,”Muniyaapa said.

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