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Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007
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Supreme Court rings alarm over traffic deaths

Legal Correspondent

In addition to the enormous toll of human lives, economic impact is phenomenal: Court

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over increasing road accidents, the Supreme Court has suggested that a national policy be evolved to prevent and reduce traffic fatalities.

Quoting figures published in `Global Road Safety', a Bench of the Court consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia said "almost 1.2 million people are killed each year and 20 to 50 million injured or disabled; most people are unaware that road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability".

The Bench was dismissing an appeal by Rathnaselvan against a Karnataka High Court judgment that upheld a six-month imprisonment awarded by the trial court for rash driving.

Writing the judgment, Justice Pasayat said, "In developing countries, death rates from vehicle crashes are rising and disproportionately high in relation to the number of crashes." At 71,495 and 59,927 deaths, China and India had the highest number of road fatalities in the world in 1995.

"In developing countries, each vehicle is much more lethal than the vehicles in developed countries, because it most frequently takes the lives not of vehicle occupants but of vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists."

"Human toll is tragic," the Bench added. "Survivors and family members are affected not only by an immediate death or disability but also sometimes by a lifetime of psychological suffering. Crashes often result in orphans and some victims, as young as infants, spend the rest of their lives in medical facilities."

The Bench said, "In addition to the devastating human toll, the economic impact of road crashes is enormous.

Many of those injured or killed are wage earners, leaving families destitute and without means of support. We have the tools needed to combat this epidemic.

In the developed nations, proven methods such as enforcement of laws regarding driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reducing speed limits and requiring seat belts and restraints have shown a significant reduction in traffic fatalities."

"Developing countries face poorly designed and maintained roadways, unsafe vehicles, drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, lack of national policies and inadequate enforcement," the Judges added.

"Road design and road environment, vehicle design and road safety standards are also strategies that successfully address traffic safety. Education alone has been shown to be less effective and often ineffective. Success will require significant new resources supported by sustained political commitment."

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