The safest methods to curb accidents!

The frequency of accidents in India is amongst the highest in the world. People often think that while driving, the driver must be agile and responsible in order to avoid an accident. What if a driver is agile enough but another driver is not careful enough and causes an accident by crashing his car into the agile driver’s car? Often this happens but People tend to forget to find the fault of the real culprit. In the case of an accident between a pedestrian and a bike, it is always the fault of the bike rider. In the case of an accident between a bike and a car, it is always the fault of the car driver. Indirectly, the driver of the bigger or heavier vehicle is always responsible for any accident.

Seriously? Accidents are not caused by vehicles, accidents are caused by rash drivers. Even a pedestrian, who does not obey traffic rules, can cause accidents. Blaming vehicles for road mishaps in not the correct mentality.

Consider another situation: A bike rider is wearing helmet and driving cautiously. Suddenly a drunk car driver collides with him and causes a severe accident. What was the fault of the bike rider? Nothing. Similarly, a car driver is wearing seat belt, driving within the permissible speed limits and suddenly a man appears out of nowhere and tries to run across the road without looking at the vehicles coming towards him. The result: collision of the card and the man. The accident was caused by whom? No, not by the car driver!  So we cannot say that if we drive safely, we will be completely safe. Our safety also depends upon the responsibility of other drivers.

India has the world's deadliest roads, the result of a flood of untrained drivers, inadequate law enforcement, badly maintained highways and cars that fail modern crash tests. About 1.2 million Indians were killed in car accidents over the past decade, on average one every four minutes, and 5.5 million were seriously injured. While road deaths in many emerging markets have dipped even as vehicle sales rose, Indian fatalities have shot up by half in the last 10 years. (Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-indian-road-accidents-killed-12-million-in-last-decade-legislation-to-set-sweeping-safety-measures-2031926 )

Now the next Big Question: What measures should be taken to ensure maximum road safety in India? In my opinion, the following steps must be taken immediately:

1. Traffic Police must be given the power to stop or take strict actions against people who disobey traffic rules.

2. Two way roads must be built everywhere. One way roads are too dangerous.

3. Traffic police must be present at crossroads to help senior citizens and kids to cross roads.

4. People must be educated about the necessary traffic rules.

5.  People must be made aware of the responsibilities of a driver while driving through television        campaigns and newspaper.

6. Drivers who drink and drive must be sent to police custody immediately.

7. Stricter rules for granting Driving License.

8. Electronic billboards displaying the status of traffic and past history of accidents can be fitted at accident prone areas.

9. An app should be developed which can send SMS alerts to the near and dear ones of a person if he/she is affected in an accident.

10. Usage of mobiles and ear phones while driving must be banned completely.

11. Proper maintenance of street lights in National Highways is a must during night time to ensure  maximum visibility.

Let us join hands to follow traffic rules obediently so that we can make entire India an accident free country.

The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion activities. NSDF encourages drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts, and participants learn through interactive activities the importance of wearing seatbelts. Nissan seeks to support reducing fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents, and NSDF represents the company's commitment in contributing to young, vibrant and mobile India. To know more about the Nissan Safety Driving Forum, log on to  https://www.nissan.in/innovation/NSDF.html

* This post is a part of Safety begins with Me campaign by IndiBlogger.