Road accidents have become a leading cause for fatalities and injuries globally with India being the leading country in this regards. The huge loss of life and attendant economic losses are highly avoidable and require urgent measures to be adopted for effective mitigation.
Most of the causative factors behind the road deaths are indicative of the fact that the road accidents in Goa were caused due to either road environment related issues or due to human factors.
Accordingly, the recommendations would have to been limited to addressing road risk related factors through incorporating certain corrective measures in the construction norms for roads and also endeavour proposing measures towards improving road safety awareness amongst the road users.
In listing the causes of accidents in Goa and the rest of India indicate that the reasons for the large numbers fall primarily in two categories namely road features and human factors.
According to the WHO Report (2004) on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, road traffic injuries represent the eighth leading cause of death globally.
In order to attribute the Road Environment Factors which would account for the Accidents, the following are surmised:
Road Features:
The various road features such as straight stretches, curved roads, location of culverts, bridges, potholes among other cause accidents.
Straight road stretches, which allow for movement of vehicles at high speeds, have accounted for the highest number of accidents (64 and 66%) in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Road junctions, by virtue of being traffic merging points, are theoretically prone to more accidents.
Within the road junction categories, ‘T’ junctions account for the largest share in road accidents, deaths and injuries.
Ongoing Construction Works:
Ongoing construction works upon or beside the road result in unavailability of space to the road user.
Improper road markings, lack of traffic control at such sites further complicates the safety environment around these construction sites.
Speed Breakers:
Presence or absence of speed breakers account for a major cause of road accidents.
Incorrect location, poor construction and possibility to avoid the speed breaker result in a large number of accidents.
Weather Conditions:
Weather impacts not just the road surface condition but also the visibility of the road user thereby increasing chances of road accidents.
Heavy rain, dense fog and hail storms reduce visibility and make the road surface slippery thus posing serious risks to the road users.
Poor Lighting:
Lack of lighting on roads contributes a major cause in accidents. Dim lighting, particularly during night and in adverse weather conditions, hinders visibility and increases the chances of road accidents.
Lack of Adequate Road Signs:
Correctly placed road signs are necessary to provide road users with advance warnings of the road conditions, ongoing works, road features such as turns and sharp bends etc.
Absence of such road signs result in the road users becoming unaware of the requirement of reducing speed or taking additional care in driving.
Sidewalks:
Constructed with the intention to be used by pedestrians, poor maintenance of the footpaths and their eventual encroachment by hawkers and street vendors result in a consequence of the sidewalks not being available for pedestrian’s use who are then forced to move on the roads thereby increasing their vulnerability to accidents.
Neighbourhood Environment:
Residential, institutional and commercial areas tend to have higher amounts of traffic congestion and are therefore more prone to road accidents.
In order to attribute the Human Factors in order to account for the Accidents, the following are surmised:
Violation of Traffic Rules:
Over-speeding remains the major cause of road accidents in the country with almost 71% accidents in 2019 all over India occurring due to high speeds and resulting in the death.
Lane indiscipline was the next major human factor accounting for 5.4% of road accidents nationally.
Balance violations like drunk driving, jumping of traffic signal and use of mobile phones together accounted for 6% of total accidents and 8% of total deaths.
Invalid Driving License:
Vehicles driven by untrained and unqualified drivers are a serious traffic hazard and can cause accidents, death and injuries.
While the number of accidents by owner’s with valid driver’s licence or a learner’s license has shown a decline, the corresponding figure for individuals without a license has shown an increase from 8% in 2018 to 9.9% in 2019.
Non-Use of helmets and seat belts:
While safety devices such as helmets and seat belts do not cause accidents by themselves, they are instrumental in reducing the number of fatal and grievous injuries.
Around 29.82% of the total road accident related fatalities in 2019 were a direct result of the rider / driver not wearing safety helmets and indicates a callous attitude amongst the population as well as inadequate enforcement measures.
Road Rage:
Road rage represents aggressive behaviour by a motorist towards other road users.
This behaviour could include rude gestures, verbal insults, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted toward another driver in an effort to intimidate or release frustration.
Road rage may lead to assaults and collisions that could result in serious physical injuries or even death.
The Statistics and the Percentage Changes in the data on Road Fatalities have been interpreted from the WHO World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention and another Report (2020) issued by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
