Tuesday 6 August 2019

#NIFS - Road Safety is a shared responsibility Article by Dr. Yashoda Tammineni., HOD, HSE Department at NIFS


Image result for road safety
The number of road traffic accidents and injuries is increasing day by day and over 90% of the world's road traffic accidents are road crashes among people aged 15-29 years. The unending accidents are taking place mainly due to the most erratic bike riding of the youth and the ever-increasing traffic all over. In day to day life, the accidents have also become a part of day's activity. For this condition, one needs to blame several factors and focus has to be drawn on various factors to reduce the rate of accidents

Though some factors like night driving, bad roads, stray animals and poor maintenance of vehicles have contributed as the major causes of the numerous accidents on the roads, 90% of road traffic accidents are as a result of human error.

Car crash
Human errors including use of mobile phones while driving, over speeding, failure to use seat belt, misjudgment, over-taking, negligent pedestrians and noncivic behavior of people are worth mentioning for the increase in the rate of accidents. If we look into it, people are prone to making errors and violating traffic laws. Road safety awareness should be employed to educate people on road safety and bring about behavior change.

Human loss due to road accidents causes grief, pain and untold economic suffering to families. The people's outlook has changed enormously on the affected people and nobody cares nowadays and not even in a position to create a sensation or concern or a matter of discussion today. The public need to realize that road safety must be a shared responsibility and every one of us should take part in reducing the rate of accidents. Road safety should be in action around the world and it is the best attempt to inform and change the perception and behavior of the people. In particular, Road safety awareness would be an effective way to influence the public to behave more responsibly.

Safe Behavior on roads for improving the effectiveness of Road safety:

Seat belts: Wearing a seat belt can reduce the fatalities among front-seat passengers by up to 50% and among rear seat car passengers up to 75%.

Drinking & Driving: Young people are at greater risk of alcohol-related road crashes. Law enforcement through breath checkpoints can reduce alcohol-related crashes by 20%.

Helmets: Wearing a standard helmet can reduce the risk of death by almost 40% and the risk of severe injury by over 70%.

Distracted Driving: Distracted driving is a growing problem due to the increased use of mobiles technology in vehicles that have significantly increased the likelihood of a crash.

Easiest ways to reduce distraction is to keep phones out of reach while driving, reduce the number of passengers contributing to distractions, turn down the volumes on the road and eating while driving. Reducing distraction can reduce the number of accidents on the roads and can save lives.

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