The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : World Health Day focus on road safety

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

World Health Day focus on road safety

By Sahana Charan

BANGALORE, APRIL 6. Consider this: if you are walking on the road, your chances of sustaining an injury is eight times higher than when you are at home. If you are riding a two-wheeler, you are 20 times more likely to suffer injury than when you are at home.

Scary, but true. Every day, thousands of people meet with accidents on roads, and of them, many succumb to injuries or suffer permanent disability. Owing to the increasing number of injuries suffered in road accidents, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has decided to focus on "road safety" as the theme for the World Health Day (April 7) this year.

According to WHO, 1.2 million people worldwide die in road accidents each year. Deaths from all types of injuries are projected to increase from 5.1 million in 1990 to 8.4 million in 2020. Injuries suffered in road accidents are a major cause for the increase.

Bangalore has seen an increase in the number of fatal accidents from 659 in 2000 to 883 in 2003, according to the City Traffic Police.

Pedestrians and two-wheeler riders are the most vulnerable among road users — in 2002, 328 pedestrians died and 2,363 were injured. Among two-wheeler riders, 351 died and 3,438 were injured.

M.A. Saleem, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told The Hindu that traffic volumes had gone up considerably in the past few years — from four lakh vehicles in 1987 to 18.5 lakh vehicles in 2003. Although the number of accidents had gone up, the increase was not so high compared with the growth in traffic volumes in the city, he said.

"Safety on roads depends on the condition of the rider, the road, and the vehicle, and the implementation of rules. If all these are taken care of, traffic accidents can be reduced," he added.

The city traffic police have launched various initiatives to prevent road accidents. Among the recent ones are the campaign against drunken driving, ban on high-beam headlights in certain areas, one-way system on some roads, training for autorickshaw drivers, and installation of signages on various roads.

N.K. Venkataramana, Director, Manipal Institute for Neurological Disorders and Project Coordinator of Comprehensive Trauma Consortium, said there was a need for increasing awareness among the people about road safety and implementation of laws to prevent road accidents.

Two-wheeler riders should wear helmets, and they and other motorists should avoid overtaking on the wrong side to avoid accidents.

The consortium is a network of 25 city hospitals that provide emergency services to accident victims through a toll-free helpline (1062). "After initiating this service, we were able to bring down the number of deaths in road accidents from 33 per cent to three per cent," he said.

"If someone has met with an accident on the road, immediate steps should be taken to give him first aid on the road and to take him/her to a hospital. This can make the difference between life and death," Mr. Venkataramana added.

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