Road traffic accidents in India are increasing day by day. Many of the accidents are taking place due to bad roads in India.
It is very common hear that the road traffic accidents are increasing day by day. Almost daily in the news you will come to know about accidents. The loss may be in the form of minor injury to death and the damage of the vehicle. Some time the driver is beaten so badly that he may succumb to injuries. However, the driver does not make any mistake. Generally the mob is driven by emotions and become highly aggressive in such situations.
Why these accidents are increasing at the very fast rate?
One of the important reasons is our hurriness. We are always in hurry without any genuine reason. We do not have the patience to wait and let others to go. Due to the hurriness we prefer wrong side overtaking. A large numbers of two wheelers pass the standing bus from the wrong side, the left side where the passengers are getting down. The two wheeler riders do not only put himself/herself in danger but also the passengers. Moreover, our youngsters who are full of energy and drive the bike at very high speed. On the busy road they set the bet to defeat one another. In chasing and overtaking one another they meet an accident.
Because of uncontrollable speed youngsters ram into the truck, tanker or the other vehicles. Sometimes hit the divider or side by standing pole and lost the life. Sometimes they perform the stunts without wearing the helmet. Although it is enjoying but many time there put the life at risk. Those who are at the learning stage are very fascinated by the speed. As they are poorly skilled they may hit the other vehicle. Rather than applying the break they may press the lever of speed and therefore the vehicle may go out of control.
The life is so busy that the people can’t stop talking on mobile. It’s the prestige issue that the people press the mobile between the year and the shoulder. While driving with 45 degree head tilt the vehicle coming from the front would also be seen tilted. Our conversation by mobile takes a significant amount of attention and hence with poor amount of attention we put ourselves into the risk but also the others as well. A large number of accidents had taken place due to the use of ear plug and not listening to the horn. In addition to that drunken driving decreases our ability to understand signals which further lead to the accidents. In early morning many of the accidents take place due to the high pressure of sleep. Either the vehicle runs over the divider or goes outside the road or hit the other vehicle.
Accidents due to bad roads in India:
Many of the accidents are taking place due to bad roads in India. In the speed the vehicle may get disbalanced and sometimes it is difficult to control the vehicle. When we apply the sudden break the vehicle from behind may hit our vehicle. It may also be possible that there may be damage to any vehicle and it may move to one side and may ram into another vehicle. Apart from that weather condition may significantly contribute to accidents. In cold season low visibility due to fog and in summer season bursting of tires due to rising temperature of the roads. In the rainy season the holes on the roads are filled with the water. The driver may not get the idea of the hole which may cause the vehicle to get disbalanced.
Another important reason is the overloading whether it is on small vehicle or the heavy vehicle. The two riding on two wheelers are highly prone to accidents. It can be commonly observed that the couples with children are going on two wheelers. If you look at the conditions of auto, taxi or Tata magic which shuttles between the villages carry double the amount of its capacity. The taxies looks like the bee hive is going on the road. Those who are standing outside are at risk of accident. If your vehicle goes unwell on the road then you start repairing without taking it out of the road. That is the big mistake since the other speeding vehicles may not pay attention towards it. The truck carrying the iron rods which are half in the truck and half peeping out. The red signal is very necessary for drawing the attention of the nearby vehicle. The nearby vehicle can make the safe distance.
Another important concern is the news of the accident who had witnessed and who is getting the information in what mode. If the news is communicated in a very harsh way it may have extremely negative impact on the listeners. The listeners may face various types psychological and the physiological conditions i.e. high blood pressure, heart attack, panicky and fainting etc. As per Indian Union Road Ministry in 2017, around 3,597 accidental deaths were due to potholes, equating 10 deaths per day.
Recommendations
- There should be certain awareness programmes e.g. rally, nukkad natak, posters to increase the awareness among masses how to drive safely and to adopt safety measures like helmet, seatbelt etc
- Keep your vehicle at the safe distance from the heavy vehicle
- Always adopt seat belt and the other safety measures
- Do not drive after you drunk.
- Talk on mobile after you take the vehicle aside. Do not be in so much hurry that you die in hurry.
- Do not over take at the turn as it is highly risky
- In dim light, water logging keep the vehicle slow as it would minimize accident risk
- It is mandatory to the proper way of disclosing the news of accident. Communicate the news of the accident in less offensive words so that the listener does not get panicky.
- One should first learn how to drive the vehicle. For driving on the main road one should have some patience. Get written “L” written on the vehicle so that nearby vehicle can make the safe distance.
- There should be prescribed number of person on the vehicle. Maximum two on the motor bike
- One should take proper sleep before driving. If you are getting drowsy it is better to take the vehicle aside the road and get the sleep and then drive.
Dr. Mustafa Nadeem Kirmani
Associate Professor & Head , Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences,
SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana. Dr.mnkirmani@sgtuniversity.org Ph: 08295320920/08267871886
Dr. Mehfooz Ahmed
Clinical Psychologist, Bijnour, UP.
Mehfooz.alig@gmail.com
M0b: 09718227597
