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Building safety into roads

At 1.2 million dead and 50 million injured worldwide, road traffic accidents now take an annual toll comparable with malaria and tuberculosis. In low and middle income countries, which account for 85 per cent of the fatalities and injuries, they add to the burden of poverty. But the unconscionable levels of death and injury in the fast-growing economies of Asia and Africa can be sharply reduced, if only lessons are learnt from the experience of the developed countries in the mid-20th century and acted upon. This message from the U.N. General Assembly in a recent resolution on the road safety crisis deserves serious attention. With support from the World Health Organisation and campaigners such as Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, the United Nations organised the first Global Road Safety Week in 2007. It called for greater international cooperation to share best practices. Member countries now need to act with a sense of urgency to be able to produce positive results before the first U.N. ministerial-level meeting on road safety to be held in Russia in 2009. Evidently, success depends on recognising that there must be zero tolerance towards risk.

Long-term studies on road safety reveal an interesting correlation between the fatality rates and GDP growth. Initially, both move in tandem. But beyond a point the former start declining even as the GDP continues to grow. The key to lower risk lies in incorporating the safety element in the design and funding of roads and urban development projects. Regrettably, there is little evidence of this happening in the slew of infrastructure projects now being pursued in the cities and in the highways sector. Flyovers and wider roads enable faster movement of vehicles but they invariably result in the removal of footpaths. Massively funded projects fail to provide pedestrian subways in urban areas and across rural highways that cut through habitations. The answer would be to enact a law that requires a proportion of infrastructure project costs to go into creating facilities for pedestrians and vulnerable road users; the Commission for Global Road Safety in its report to the U.N. recommends 10 per cent. Voluntary agencies could also expand their funding pattern. They provided, internationally, $1.8 billion for malaria and $1.2 billion for tuberculosis during 2002-06, while road safety got only about $10 million in bilateral aid. Clearly, road safety receives low priority. About 80,000 people die annually on India’s roads. There is no excuse for a tardy response.

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