Increasing concerns of kids' safety to avoid road accidents

With 31 kids dying every day in road accidents in India -- their safety is a matter of big concern.

Children under the age of 19 are more vulnerable to fatal and non-fatal injuries arising from road accidents as compared to adults -- posing a big challenge to society, lawmakers and NGOs alike.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, a detailed stakeholder consultation workshop was organised by Synergie, in partnership with Global Roads Safety Partnership (GRSP) focussing on 'Making Roads Safer for Children', a stakeholder consultation workshop at the Mumbai Press Club.

At the event, Dr Avinash Dhakne, Maharashtra’s Transport Commissioner, said, "Road discipline is missing in the country and it is parents who will have a large role in educating the kids." He pointed out that schools do train students in road safety, however, it is said that their experience is different when they see people violating the rules.

"Road safety is a life skill that every child should have,” said Saurabh Verma, Co-Founder, Synergie, who is the chief organiser of the conference and the campaign.

Children under the age of 18 accounted for 7.4% of fatalities - 11,168 annually or 31 daily - according to data of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, it was pointed out at the meeting.

Key findings of the survey conducted by Synergie revealed some facts that concern every family -- like only 22 per cent of kids strap on seat belts. As high as 77 per cent of kids feel concerned about being hit on roads.

A truth that came to light is that 53 per cent of the kids said their parents did not mind if they did not follow traffic rules.

The findings are expected to contribute to the creation of a benchmark framework that furthers the Child Road Safety discourse by focusing on the 4E approach, and the need for mainstreaming Child Road Safety into sectoral policies addressing Education, Enforcement, Engineering, and Environment & Emergency care.

“The safety of the children on the road is the collective responsibility of all the stakeholders. In the coming time, there will be development of various tools in the area of road safety, motor vehicles and road network so that safety issues related to children will be alleviated on a larger scale,” said Dattatraya Saste, Member High-Level Expert Committee Safety, Ministry of Coal and former technical consultant, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

"The urban street is perceived to be such a simple thing that anyone thinks they can build it. While that may appear to be so, what is really difficult and needs much more work is the change in mindsets to recognise that urban streets are literally for everyone -- from the largest vehicle to the smallest and most vulnerable children and their caregivers,” pointed out Avanish Pendharkar, Executive Director, Center for Urban Planning and Policy at CEPT University.

“The streets are getting crowded. Many vehicles move on the roads at high speed. Millions of children cross streets. The element of risk increases day by day,” added Binay Pattanayak, Senior Education Consultant, World Bank, India office, New Delhi.

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