{"id":28928,"date":"2024-09-04T20:50:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T15:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=28928"},"modified":"2024-09-04T20:50:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T15:20:14","slug":"accelerate-safety-measures-to-reduce-road-traffic-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-09-2024\/accelerate-safety-measures-to-reduce-road-traffic-deaths","title":{"rendered":"Accelerate Safety Measures to Reduce Road Traffic Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1\/Urban development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries in the southeast Asia region to accelerate measures to reduce road traffic deaths, a leading cause of mortality among people aged between 15 and 29.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and two or three-wheelers constitute <strong>66%<\/strong> of all reported road traffic deaths in the southeast Asia region.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The region accounted for <strong>3,30,223<\/strong> of the <strong>1.19 million <\/strong>estimated global road traffic deaths in <strong>2021<\/strong>, accounting for <strong>28%<\/strong> of the global burden.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The WHO South-East Asia Region, amid rapid urbanization, faces challenges such as,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>High prevalence of motorized two and three-wheelers,\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inadequate traffic injury data, poor pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, and\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Limited emergency services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With <strong>70% <\/strong>of the global population projected to live in urban areas by <strong>2030, <\/strong>demand for public transport will surge.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d8d6d1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"681\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WHO-Regions-and-Road-Accidents-jpg.webp\" alt=\"WHO Regions and Road Accidents\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-28929\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d8d6d1; width:411px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WHO-Regions-and-Road-Accidents-jpg.webp 681w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WHO-Regions-and-Road-Accidents-300x216.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Road Accidents in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year, <strong>3,00,000 people <\/strong>are estimated to be killed on the road in India. It is equivalent to more than<strong> 34 people every hour<\/strong> of every day.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In India, road crashes are estimated to cost between<strong> 5% and 7% of national GDP.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Focus areas for better safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Helmet use: <\/strong>It must be enforced among motorcyclists as well as their pillion passengers. Correct helmet use can lead to a 42% reduction in the risk of fatal injuries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Speeding must be reduced: <\/strong>Speeding causes 70% of India\u2019s road crash deaths. Also there should be no tolerance for drink-driving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Road infrastructure should be enhanced: <\/strong>Many roads are not in a safe condition, although government programmes in recent years have led to rapid improvements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Behavioral changes:<\/strong> Large-scale public awareness campaigns such as the new UN global campaign for road safety #MakeASafetyStatement, involving international celebrities, must be undertaken to secure behavioral changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Steps taken by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Implementation of the <strong>Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Act hike in penalties for traffic violations, electronic monitoring of the same, enhanced penalties for juvenile driving,\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Computerization\/automation<\/strong> of vehicle fitness tests, recall of defective vehicles, streamlining the third party insurance and payment of increased compensation for hit and run cases etc.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Global measures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Road safety, a public health and development priority, is crucial to achieving the <strong>UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In September 2020, the UN General Assembly launched the <strong>Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030<\/strong> which aims to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by at least <strong>50% by 2030.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Low- and Middle-Income Countries need to <strong>prioritize the safety of vulnerable road users,<\/strong> such as pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of two and three-wheelers who are disproportionately at higher risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening trauma and emergency care systems<\/strong>, enhancing road safety data, strong leadership and promoting collaboration among all stakeholders are essential for improving road safety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While the WHO South-East Asia Region saw a <strong>2% decrease <\/strong>in road fatalities in <strong>2021,<\/strong> contributing to a <strong>global 5% reduction,<\/strong> further efforts are needed to meet global targets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/accelerate-safety-measures-to-reduce-road-traffic-deaths-who\/article68597196.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries in the southeast Asia region to accelerate measures to reduce road traffic deaths, a leading cause of mortality among people aged between 15 and 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28930,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28928\/revisions\/28930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}