'Low penalty amount biggest reason for traffic rules violation'

Bengaluru recorded highest accident claims; Ahmedabad leads for two wheeler claims

Increasing penalty amount will help curb violation of traffic rules, said almost 19 per cent of respondents to a survey. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, along with IMRB today unveiled a study on ‘Understanding the Road Safety habits of Indian Motorists”.

The survey that delves into the attitude, behavior and practices of car and bike owners while driving found that other than increasing penalty, stricter enforcement, confiscating all vehicle documents and immediate disqualification of license will help curb traffic violation. The national survey covered all four regions through the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.

“Through this survey, we have tried to gain a better understanding of the driving behavior of Indian motorists, and more importantly, their attitude and beliefs in terms of adopting road safety measures. This should enable us and various other stakeholders to further strengthen our efforts towards making Indian roads safer,” said Sanjay Datta, Chief – Underwriting and Claims, ICICI Lombard GIC.

The survey reflects on the extent to which Indian drivers believe in and adopt to safe driving & following traffic rules. It also focuses on critical influencers to safe driving such as use of mobile phones as well as adherence to keeping important documents like driving license, insurance policy, PUC certificate while on the move.

The total sample size was 987 which included 487 car owners and 500 bikers.

Seventy per cent respondents were males while 30 per cent were females. The sample was further divided into two age groups 21- 35 and 36- 45 years.

According to ICICI Lombard data head on collision accounts for 32 per cent of car accidents and 51 per cent in case of two wheelers (Oct – Dec 2013 claims data).