Search Results

Road traffic crashes kill 1.2 million people each year and injure 50 million worldwide. Nearly 8.5% of total fatal accidents per year takes place in India. This issue is creating a huge socio-economic toll globally. Various studies revealed that the total number of people killed in road crashes in regions of the third world countries continued to increase, whereas in the developed nations there has been a steady decrease for the last two decades. This paper aims to critically discuss the road accidents in view of the cause, effect and mitigation means with special emphasis on some technical interventions in the vehicles. Exhaustive review of weather and wet road related crashes have also been carried out as part of the study. Authors commented on the global estimation of the socio-economic impact of road crashes.

Road crashes deserve to be a strategic issue for any country's public health and can lead to overall growth crisis, if not addressed properly. More than 90% of deaths on the world's roads occur in low and middle-income countries (21.5 and 19.5 per lakh of population, respectively) though they have just 48% of all registered vehicles. It is estimated that road traffic deaths will increase worldwide, from 0.99 million in 1990 to 2.34 million in 2020 (representing 3.4% of all deaths). India already accounts for about 9.5% of the total 1.2 million fatal accidents in the world. In 2007, 1.14 lakh people in India lost their lives in road mishaps-that's significantly higher than the 2006 road death figures in China, 89,455. One person dies at every 4.61 minutes in India for road crashes. Road deaths in India registered a sharp 6.1% rise between 2006 and 2007. The Planning Commission of India had assessed the social cost at 55,000 crore ( 550 billion) on account of road accidents in India.