Road Safety for Children – an Indispensable need for India’s Future

Nov - Dec 2022

Abhinav Walia

Abhinav Walia has a more than a decade-long national and international work experience as a Disaster Management professional with focus on Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change and Geo- informatics Applications. Mr. Abhinav is double masters in Disaster Risk Management domain and due to receive his PhD in the same domain.

Viraj Desai is a public policy and communications professional with over 13 years of experience having worked across diverse sectors. Mr Desai has a Masters in Public Policy from TERI School of Advanced Studies, graduation from Madras University and also a diploma in Journalism.

Viraj Desai

India’s road infrastructure may have witnessed a remarkable change in the last few years, yet the inglorious part about the highest number of deaths globally remains a harsh reality. It is estimated that over 1.25 million people die globally from road accidents each year. As per a report by the World Health Organisation in 2018, road accident remains the number one cause of death for young adults and children aged five to 29 years old. This is far higher than even the widespread diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, or diarrhoeal diseases.

India is progressively more rapidly developing. Road traffic injuries are expected to rise as the number of cars on the road increases. Every day, a third of a billion children travel to school in India, yet little is known about their safety during the school commute. Children’s school transportation is a routine and essential task. However, we do not know much about the safety of children who walk, cycle, or use motorised means. As per the National Crime Records Bureau 2021, more than 14,875 children under the age of 18 died in road accidents in India, which is over 40 children every day. This was almost 10% of the total road fatalities in 2021, which was far higher than just 6.4 percent in 2017. In fact, as per a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), and Underwriters Laboratories, about 2 percent of them injured in a road accident can develop a lifelong disability. In a country with over 500 million under the age of 18 years, the aforementioned figures should ring alarm bells, perhaps more deeply than some of the other factors causing deaths. Though policy interventions such as the Motor Vehicle Act 2019 carried provisions including safety belt and child restraint system to secure children, the implementation and monitoring will be critical for preventing such fatalities.

Why we need to focus on Children ?

Children are vulnerable to road traffic injuries for a variety of reasons. Younger children’s physical, cognitive, and social development limits them, making them more susceptible in road traffic than adults. Children’s small stature might make it difficult for them to notice surrounding traffic and for drivers and others to see them. Additionally, their nimble nature makes them vulnerable. Furthermore, if they are caught in a road accident, their softer skulls render them more vulnerable to significant brain damage than adults.

Need for Education on Road Safety

There is a need to engage children in sensitizing about the basic traffic signals, which can reduce issues while crossing the road. It is imperative to understand that kids learn through examples and hence efforts need to be made to elucidate on the rudimentary elements of safety. One of the critical issues is dealing with accidents caused by exposing body parts outside the window while the bus is driving. High number of accidents happen because of such kind of negligence or unmature behaviour of the children. Sensitization on the subject will be helpful to avoid such accidents. Utilizing the global learnings Globally, this issue is a major concern and governments trying to minimize the fatalities of children caused by the road accidents. In Australia, sensors and high-definition cameras are being installed near Melbourne schools to make children safer and to reduce traffic-light wait times for motorists. The gadgets will be able to detect how many pedestrians are waiting and adjust crossing times to suit, complementing the efforts of Victoria’s 3000 daily school crossing supervisors. Other side, Norway is a country which is known for its low load fatality rate. It is one of the best countries for the road safety aspect. The Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications initiated the ‘Vision Zero Initiative’ in 1999 with the objective of reducing road deaths to zero, and it has been working towards that goal ever since. According to World Health Organisation, Road traffic accidents can be avoided. While no one strategy properly covers the wide variety of threats to children on the road, the ten techniques listed below are among the most well-known, especially when executed as a kit, for keeping children safe on the road.

  • Controlling speed
  • Reducing drinking and driving
  • Using helmets for bicyclists and motorcyclists
  • Restraining children in vehicles
  • Improving children’s ability to see and be seen
  • Enhancing road infrastructure
  • Adapting vehicle design Implementing graduated driver licensing

To avoid knowledge loss, it is undoubtedly essential to utilize the available learnings that have already been documented. A variety of learnings are available that may be used to learn and take action to prevent road accidents.

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