The number of road deaths occurring in Goa is relatively high for the population to sustain the loss of life
According to Dinesh Mohan of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in his article entitled: Traffic safety: Rights and obligations (2019) published in the Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention has opined that:
“Morbidity and mortality due to road traffic injuries (RTI) is one of the few public health problems where society and decision makers still accept death and disability on such a large scale as inevitable.”
Dinesh Mohan (2019) further observes that “This human sacrifice is deemed inevitable in order to maintain high levels of mobility and is seen as a necessary “externality” of doing business. Discussion only revolves around the number of deaths and injuries we are willing to accept.”
It was as far back as 1962 when L G Norman, who was the Chief Technical Officer of the London Transport Executive, prepared a report for the WHO in which he stated that: “The problem of road accidents on a large scale has arisen for the first time in the present century. All other epidemics throughout history have been due to the onslaught of agencies external to man, principally the protozoa, bacteria, and viruses; but road accidents are caused by man himself” (Norman, 1962).
Historically, in the works of Gibson, 1961 as well as Haddon, 1963 it was hypothesised that road traffic injuries (RTI) should be considered a public health problem and this view has been accepted for decades now.
Consequently, in consonance with the mandate of the Indian Constitution, the Kerala High Court in April, 2021 while deciding a batch of public interest litigation petitions which were seeking directions upon the State and Central Governments to take steps to stem the rise in road accidents in the State of Kerala, the hon’ble Court held:
“...bearing in mind that the right for a safe road to every citizen is a facet of Articles 19 (1) (d) and 21 of the Constitution of India and thus all authorities are duty bound to discharge them without fail.”
Here it would be apt to clarify that Article 19(1)(d) guarantees the right “to move freely throughout the territory of India” while Art. 21 guarantees the “Right to Life”.
But in broadening the perspectives even further, the message of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2016) namely: Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein deserves a special mention:
“Road safety is a human rights question. Today, international law, codified under United Nations auspices, imposes affirmative obligations on every State to take all reasonable steps to protect the right to life, the right to personal security, the right to health, and the right to development of all people against all threats in both the public and private spheres.
These obligations include prevention, thorough adequate regulation of and investment in safe and accessible infrastructure, including roads and public transportation as well as the implementation of safety standards when it comes to vehicles in private use.
- They include response, with effective public services, including emergency services.
- They include meaningful frameworks for free and active participation, like public hearings on planning and budgeting.
- They require accountability, remedies, and redress, through the fair and effective administration of justice.
And they mandate an explicit focus on access and inclusion, without discrimination, particularly for those most vulnerable or marginalized women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons, those living in poverty, minorities, and others.”
According to Paul Hoffman who is a director of Accountability Now, South Africa in his Article entitled: Road Safety is a Human Rights Issue (2019):
The right to human dignity, along with equality and freedom, represent the most basic rights enshrined in the Constitution and dignity has repeatedly been singled out by the Courts as a fundamental right in our new democratic order. The Bill of Rights (South Africa) explicitly states that everyone has “inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected” which is a ratio that finds agreement with the Indian Constitutional values.
Paul Hoffman (2019) further expressed that: “Road travel these days is not a particularly dignified activity. Dodging potholes, avoiding taxi wars and road-raging motorists, swerving around intoxicated pedestrians on highways, lingering in traffic jams at rush hour and praying to reach one’s destination intact, are not the stuff of a dignified road lifestyle. Yet, the value system in place demands respect for and protection of everyone’s dignity. There is nothing dignified in dying violently in a collision, nor even in sustaining serious injuries in a mass of mangled metal.”
Contemporaneously, Gen. (Dr.) V. K. Singh in his capacity on 6 Dec, 2022:
“The issue of road safety becomes even more important for India, having one of the largest road networks in the world. The unprecedented rate of motorization and growing urbanization fueled by high rate of economic growth have compounded the problem. Every year, approximately 1.5 lakh people dies on India roads, which translate, on an average, into 1130 accidents and 422 deaths every day or 47 accidents and 18 deaths every hour.”
Subsequently, in October, 2023, according to Yogima Seth Sharma of Economic Times in her article which was titled in form of a glaring statistic: 19 people died every hour in road accident in India last year.
In summarising these perilous statistics, it would be necessary to reiterate that while the figures of road deaths per hour have increased by an additional road fatality every hour from 2022 to 2023, the figures relate to the entire population of India which is a democracy consisting of 1.42 billion people.
Contrastingly, in Goa, while estimating the figures of road fatalities based on the road deaths which have occurred this week, around three people lost their lives everyday on the road, which extrapolates into an approximate figure of 90 road deaths per month.
Considering that Goa is a really small state and the recent census reveals a population of 15.7 lakh persons but even then, the number of road deaths occurring in Goa is relatively high for the Goan population to sustain the loss of life. Especially, since the death of a breadwinner in the family due to a road fatality would stand to affect the survival of the dependents in the family.
Hence, the Human Right of Safety needs to be respected and upheld in Goa.
