Better safety norms the only way to curb road fatalities

A lack of tighter controls on training norms, uncontrolled driver licensing and lax road safety practices among Indian drivers result in around 150,000 fatalities every year

Across India, 146,377 persons were reported killed in road accidents in 2017. While this number sounds large enough, this represented a drop of three per cent over fatalities in 2016. If the modest dip tempts some stakeholders to harbour notions of complacency, then they should give up any such thought, because dark clouds are hovering over the road-safety scenario, threatening to derail India’s efforts to curb annual road fatalities.

Before elaborating on the threat, a macro perspective on road-safety issues appears to be in order. During the past decade, India’s robust economic growth, emerging cities, rising highway connectivity and increasing incomes,