Hyderabad-Nov 24 2006

Newspapers in every metro city in India give a daily report of people killed and injured in traffic accidents. As a response to this do we have heightened awareness of this situation or do we just turn the page off in the newpapers or pay a deaf ear to the news on TV. Police departments also hold road safety weeks, painting competitions, zero tolerance drives and demand greater powers to fine and punish. This has gone on for the last two decades. However, the killing and the maiming continue unabated.

Road fatalities are due to a number of reasons, primary among them are bad condition of roads and traffic violations, poor implementation of various laws governing road traffic and safety issues, and last but not the least, the faulty engineering of road mechanics, may it be road design or traffic lighting etc. Furthermore, lack of awareness of road safety issues amongst the masses and apathy of the policy makers and implementers add to the increasing problem of road safety.