Worried about hiked traffic fines? See these numbers and you may start liking them

he amended Motor Vehicles Act has increased traffic fines exponentially. The central govt says this is to ensure people obey traffic rules while many state govts have opposed it saying it burdens people. Here is what happens on Indian roads.

Above: Mangled remains of an auto rickshaw following an accident. Of late, there has been a lot of hue and cry after the central government amended the Motor Vehicles Act to increase the fines for traffic violations manifold. (Photo: Getty Images)

By the time you finish reading this article, at least two people would have died and another eight injured in road accidents in India. During same time span, India would have seen at least eight road accidents. Most of these accidents would have taken place on a clear sunny day, on a straight road in an open area largely devoid of human activity. And, in case you are wondering, most of these accidents would be due to over-speeding.

Of the eight accidents, two would be on a national highway and at least three would involve a two-wheeler.

Between now and tomorrow (at the same time), India would have suffered 1,274 deaths in road accidents, deaths that are completely avoidable. Another at least 1,308 people would also be injured, many of them disabled for life.

Of the ones who would be killed in these road accidents, 86 per cent would be men, and in most cases main breadwinner of the family. A majority (72 per cent) of the dead (men and women) would be in the age group of 18-45 years, the population that is most productive and is hailed as India's demographic dividend.

These examples are based on our analysis of the data presented in annual reports of the Union Ministry of Road and Transport.

DON'T BE MISTAKEN

The year 2017 was not an outlier. Years preceding it also had similar statistics for road accidents.

For a better appreciation of these numbers, let's see what has happened on Indian roads since 2001.

In the 17 years between 2001 and 2017, (the latest year for which official data on road accidents are available), a total of 20.42 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents and 82.30 lakh were injured. In total, India witnessed 79.10 lakh road accidents at an average of 9 crashes every 10 minutes.

The loss suffered due to road accidents generally goes unnoticed because accidents are omnipresent and occur routinely. Only the massive ones catch public attention. But each accident is devastating for the affected family or families.

WHERE DO MOST ROAD ACCIDENTS OCCUR?

Let's now turn attention to the nature of road accidents in India-where do most of them occur, at what time, under what conditions, who victims the victims are, and other associated factors.

Government data on road accidents for 2017 show that most accidents that year took place on national highways. This trend wasn't unique for 2017. Trends in data for accidents between 2005 and 2017 bring us to the same conclusion

If you are still not convinced that Indians are horrible when it comes to using roads, the following data may help you see things differently.

These numbers speak volumes to establish the fact that Indians are reckless road users and have a craze for over-speeding and driving recklessly.

Is imposing hefty fines for traffic violation not a plausible measure to check this behaviour?

Take your time and feel free to answer.
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