Information Learn who you're sharing the road with. A lesson in India's culture of road safety.

[ovarieasy]

A death every three minutes: Why India's roads are among the world's deadliest

https://archive.is/w5aQn

Why India's roads are among the world's deadliest

India's roads claimed over 172,000 lives in 2023 - averaging 474 deaths daily, or one every three minutes.

www.bbc.com

Accidents near schools and colleges accounted for another 10,000 fatalities, while 35,000 pedestrians lost their lives. Two-wheeler riders also bore the brunt of fatalities. Over-speeding typically emerged as the single biggest cause.

A lack of basic safety precautions also proved deadly: 54,000 people died due to not wearing helmets and 16,000 from not wearing seatbelts.

Other major causes included overloading, which led to 12,000 deaths, and driving without a valid licence, which factored in 34,000 crashes. Driving on the wrong side also contributed to fatalities.

In 2021, 13% of accidents involved drivers with a learner permit or no valid licence. Many vehicles on the road are old and missing basic safety features like seatbelts - let alone airbags.

A bewildering array of users crowds India's roads. There are motorised vehicles like cars, buses and motorcycles vying for space with non-motorised transport such as bicycles, cycle rickshaws and handcarts, animal-drawn carts, pedestrians and stray animals. Hawkers encroach upon roads and footpaths to sell their wares, forcing pedestrians onto busy roads and further complicating traffic flow.

Despite efforts and investments, India's roads remain among the most unsafe in the world. Experts say this is a crisis rooted not just in infrastructure, but in human behaviour, enforcement gaps and systemic neglect. Road crashes impose a significant economic burden, costing India 3% of its annual GDP.

Have a Scottish man read it to you


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynWG49DN72Q

 

[Rororo]

A while ago the WHO estimated that india's actual road death toll is closer to 300K than the 150-170K they report. Literally double india's number to get a more accurate number.

Even more insane, an indian study showed that only 25% of traffic injury (needing hospitalization) and only 78% of fatal traffic accidents are reported to the police. Granted, that study was in one city, but it's also one of the "better functioning one" by indian standard.

 

[TOPDAWG]

On my way to work, I saw a woman who got rear-ended. I saw the guy taking pics of his car and hers; it was a Black guy darker than coal. I saw her sitting in her car, bleeding from the head a bit. You could tell she was upset and was on the phone, so there was nothing I could do to help. I hope the asshole who hit her made sure she was okay, but being coal-colored, I'm guessing his IQ is that of a piece of coal.