The Hindu : Stress on scientific investigation of accidents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Stress on scientific investigation of accidents

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The need for scientific investigation of all serious and fatal accidents, observation of consistent standard of professional investigation by the police and treating of all road death cases as homicide till proved to the contrary was stressed by participants at a workshop on Accident Investigation and Analysis for Road Safety Engineering Solutions here over the week-end.

The conference, organised by the Institute of Road Traffic Education, also recommended that officers who investigate road collision must be aware and trained in traffic supervision. Stating that collision investigation is the use of physical and mathematic techniques to evaluate physical evidence at the scene and what witnesses have seen, the participants said the services of collision investigators must be used by the police and this science should also be introduced in the police service.

As in Finland, where investigation teams comprising police personnel, traffic engineers, automobile engineers and doctors were developed for investigating fatal and could-be-fatal accidents, it was recommended that traffic investigation here too should use latest scientific techniques like accident reconstruction to determine the clear cause of accidents.

Further, it was stated that traffic investigation must involve use of latest scientific techniques such as accident reconstruction to determine the clear cause of accidents and accident recording system should be simplified and computerised to enable effective analysis for immediate dissemination of information.

Observing that a large number of accidents take place due to faulty traffic engineering, the participants also called upon the civic authorities to play an effective role in traffic management and stressed the need for immediately setting up Traffic Engineering Centres in all the Municipal Departments.

As for Delhi, it was observed that a concept of safety teams should be established to carry out audits of flyovers and other road infrastructure under construction or repair before they are put to public use. Similarly as the vulnerability of pedestrians was the maximum it was stressed that their rights and right of way must be clearly specified.

In his address, the Delhi Transport Minister, Haroon Yusuf, said while the Transport Department and the Delhi Traffic Police work tirelessly to discipline drivers, it was also necessary to build into the road and other traffic infrastructures features that promote safe driving.

Noting that five precious lives are lost on Delhi's roads each day, the Minister said this was primarily due to unsafe driving habits, disrespect for pedestrians and non-motorised traffic and an increase in the vehicular population. With the population of Delhi also growing at 5 per cent annually, he said, it shall also continue to grow in terms of activities and travel demand.

This, he said, requires a management-oriented approach towards redesigning our road infrastructure so that it addressed the issues of speed, jumping of lights and dangerous driving. "We must look beyond the ad hoc widening roads to ease traffic because there is a limit beyond which roads cannot be widened and also because it is neither possible nor desirable to pretend that pedestrians and non-motorised modes do not exist.''

The conference was also attended by the Director of Central Road Research Institute, P.K. Sikdar, president of World Road Safety Network, Peter Meulen, vice-president of WRSN and president of IRTE, Rohit Baluja, and Joint Commissioner (Traffic) of Delhi Police, Qamar Ahmed.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section

MCD ready for Unit Area, says Commissioner

Girls steal the show at DU convocation

Kelkar panel leaves categorisation to MCD

Gang involved in guns, drugs busted

Customs take note of surge in saffron smuggling

Stress on scientific investigation of accidents

Calculate tax on your own

Three held in cheating case

Plan to enlarge scope of summary assessment scheme

DU teachers hold silent demonstration

Report on dietary intake of street kids

BJP workers asked to gear up for polls

Around The City

Briefly

In The Capital Today