More than half of all accidental deaths in the country take place on our highways. Now highways don’t carry more than half of all traffic in India. That means the percentage of causalities is much higher on the highways compared to the cities and towns. Therefore highway safety is a very important part of the road safety programme of India.
Black Spots of Highway Safety
The deadliest spots on highways have the dubious distinction of being called ‘Black Spots’. The ignominious title is earned by a location that has more than ten deaths taking place on it each year. The bad news is, there are 726 such black spots on Indian highways. Obviously, road safety education in India leaves a lot to be desired.
Roughly 50,000 people die on India’s national highways each year while another 40,000 or so lose their life on various state highways. That is more than half of the total toll of 1.5 lakh deaths each year on Indian roads. Here is the record of some of the worst highways. The bad road designing and motorists, as well as pedestrians breaking the laws, are the two main reasons behind these black spots.
The Top Five Black Spots
The 1465 Km long, National Highway 2 between Delhi and Kolkata is the most dangerous road in the country. It has 59 black spots across the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
National Highway 8 between Delhi and Mumbai is the second deadliest highway. It has 45 black spots. The Delhi-Jaipur corridor of this highway itself is one of the most dangerous. Hundreds of deaths take place each decade on this 230 Km stretch.
National Highway 44 is only slightly better. With 38 black spots, it has created a ‘Village of Widows’ in a tribal region of South India. The 35 odd families of Peddakunta village have lost 37 male members on this highway. The men died trying to cross the highway.
National highway 4 between Thane and Chennai has 27 black spots while the national highway has 24 black spots. Both of them have a high number of crashes and death toll. Of course, many other highways can be called dangerous to varying extents, and a highway safety programme is desperately needed.
The Measures Needed for Better Highway Safety
The high death and accident rates on the highways call for a multi-pronged strategy. Infrastructure needs to be improved, especially the quality of roads. Traffic enforcement needs to be much stricter with a focus on both prevention and punishment. Though the highways can’t be as extensively manned as city roads, the presence of uniformed staff does play its role in creating more road discipline. Finally, signals, indicators and signs on the highways need to be well maintained and be present at every spot they are required.
The existing laws and recommendations of various committees need to be implemented
more stringently. Road safety education has to start at the school level, and more and
more drivers need to be included in it. If all the measures mentioned above are taken in all
earnestness, highway safety won't remain a pipe dream in India anymore.
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