Institutions, Organisations, and Governance to Promote Road Safety

Executive Summary

There are about 400 to 800 road accident deaths in India per day depending on which estimates can be relied on. This can be compared with a total of about 5,20,000 to 5,30,000 (Worldometer, 2023) total COVID deaths in India during the first two peak years of COVID from February 2020 to February 2022, which is around 730 deaths a day over two years. The traffic death epidemic, which carries on relentlessly, is therefore of a similar order of magnitude as the COVID epidemic. Yet, the attention given to the epidemic of road fatalities is not even a fraction of the attention the COVID pandemic has received globally and in India. One can imagine the impact on road fatalities if similar policy attention was given to road safety. That can only happen if people understand that scientific research and consequent policy solutions are possible and can reduce road deaths significantly.

This Policy Brief by Rakesh Mohan discusses the need for a system view to address a host of road safety issues through research and development. It charts out a path towards greater traffic safety by way of suggesting organisations dedicated to the cause, building institutions for the same and governance to carry out the plans.