Most people feel unsafe on roads, says study

Three out of five people feel unsafe on Indian roads while travelling as drivers, pedestrians or passengers, says a survey conducted in 12 cities across the country, including Bengaluru.

During the survey, public expressed strong support for the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014, and were confident that roads would become safer.

“Eighty-one per cent of all respondents strongly favour passing of the proposed Road Transport & Safety Bill, 2014, and 90 per cent believe that passing the bill will be an important accomplishment for the Indian Parliament,” said the survey report which was released by former Union home secretary G K Pillai in the presence of several families affected by road accidents.

The survey report titled, “Road Transport & Safety Bill 2014: Public Satisfaction Survey” was jointly commissioned by SaveLIFE Foundation and the Global Road Safety Partnership (a project of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies).

The survey covered Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Varanasi, Nagpur, Rohtak, Chengalpattu, Burdwan, Palghar and Mandya.

There were 1,300 respondents. Of them 38 per cent belonged to rural touch-points.
The report said 91 per cent of the respondents believed that increased penalties for traffic violations would improve road safety while 97 per cent favoured the various statutes for protection of children during commute.

 The study also said that 90 per cent respondents favoured mandating helmets for everyone on a two wheeler and 96 per cent wanted reforms in road transport offices.
In the last one decade, more than 12 lakh people have been killed in road accidents in India. This translates to over 380 deaths a day, equivalent to a jumbo jet crash.

A total 98 per cent of the respondents also favoured several specific provisions in the bill, including making it mandatory for all drivers to be trained before getting a licence, increased electronic enforcement and heavy penalties for not complying with traffic laws.