Road safety - most important safety

                              With the human revolution our lives becomes very easy and comfortable due to inventions of many machines. In old days walking and animals like horses were the only facilities available for transportation. It takes time to reach the destination at that time. After the invention of bicycle the distances becomes shorter. Then motored power bicycle came in to existence that changes the life of human community. There is lot of comfort and time saving is possible due to use of these mechanically powered vehicles. But today we are facing some problems with these facilities. There is no doubt that the high speed transportation is must for any generation but we should keep in mind that these are the facilities only for our convenience and comfort and we never use them on account of anybodies life. Why I am saying this is because there is no single road in India where accidents are not happening. Actually we don't have proper awareness about this problem. Road safety is a major subject of research.

                              The use of modern high speed transportation facilities brings comfort but at the same time increases the risk of life too. “According to Wikipedia the frequency of traffic collisions in India is amongst the highest in the world. A National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report revealed that every year, more than 135,000 traffic collision-related deaths occur in India. The "Global Status Report on Road Safety" published by the World Health Organization (WHO) identified the major causes of traffic collisions as driving over the speed limit, driving under the influence, and not using helmets and seat belts.^[1] Failure to maintain lane or yield to oncoming traffic when turning are prime causes of accidents on four lane, non-access controlled National Highways. The report noted users of motorcycles and motor-powered three-wheelers constitute the second largest group of traffic collision deaths.”

Now we will look some of the causes of road accidents.

1. Vehicle speed is out of control.
2. Driving the vehicle in wrong direction.
3. Drunken drive.
4. Failure of brakes.
5. Vehicle goes out of control during turn and on slope.
6. Overtaking in wrong side.
7. Rash driving.
8. Turning without showing the indicators.
9. Bad road conditions.
10. Spillage of oil on roads.
11. Use of upper dipper at night.
12. Parking the vehicle on main road.
13. Sudden application of vehicle stop and sudden turning.
14. Driving without taking proper sleep.
15. Driving without legal licenses.
16. Sudden puncture or bursting of tire due to low or high air and use of wear out tires.
17. Parking the vehicle without switching on the parking light.
18. Driving without proper safety equipments like helmet, seat belts etc.
19. Unawareness about use of disk brakes.
20. Poor maintenance of vehicle.
21. Driving on roads without synchronization with other vehicles and road travelers.
22. Sudden crossing the roads by dogs and pigs.
23. Turning the vehicle by showing wrong indicator direction.
24. Talking on the phone while driving.
25. Unavailability of sideways to the road.
26. Not following the traffic signals.
27. Driving the vehicle at night without having head lamp or head lamp is switched off.
28. Not using horn whenever necessary.
29. Placement of shop items for sell on roads and on foot path.
30. Talking with the driver while driving.
31. Overloading the vehicle.
32. Projections due to large sizes of the goods than the size of vehicle.
33. Absence of reflectors on turning.

And so on...

If we study these causes carefully then we can find that most of the causes are in our control.

Most of the reasons are associated with the ethics of the individual person. Nowadays no one thinks for other person. So according to me the basic reason for all the accidents is self centric human behavior. I have seen many road accidents where the peoples only came to the accident spot for knowing what happen? How much is the damages to the car? Is any person is dead or alive? Some of them take photograph of accidents for forwarding on FaceBook and on what’s app. Only 10% of the viewers help the damagers. This is a reality.

So when question arises for doing something to avoid the accidents I think everyone should follow the traffic rules. Many times the drivers follow the road safety rules due to fear of the traffic police but this is dangerous thinking of drivers. The driver should follow the rules because the rules are made for betterment and for safety of the road travelers. The driver should drive, keep in mind that the road is not made for him only, but it is for all of us. This type of thinking can be developed from the childhood of the peoples. There should be cartoon programs for kids which are design specially to give awareness in kids and from these programs kids should understand that how the behavior of one person can affect the life of other. So when the kid will grow and ride the bike, he will ride the bike by keeping safety of others in mind.

Now this is the long term solution to the problem that will eliminate the root cause of the accidents. We will see some of the corrective majors that can be implemented in short term course to avoid the accidents and the failure related with the road accidents.

1. Follow all traffic rules in presence or in absence of traffic police.
2. Drive with economic speed of vehicle (40 to 45 kmph)
3. Wear helmet while riding two wheeler.
4. Use seat belts in four wheeler.
5. Keep vehicle tire pressure as per the specification.
6. Keep proper maintenance of vehicle.
7. Leave the home 15 minutes before than actual time.
8. Avoid rash driving though you have confidence on your driving.
9. Use advanced technology vehicles having Antiskid braking system (ABS).
10. Whenever possible use public transportation facilities.
11. While driving always keep in mind that our family members are waiting for us.

After all, the technology is for our comfort not for generating risk for life. Here I would like to thank you Indiblogger and Nissan team to initiate this topic. Hope in future the road accidents will be lower down and our kids will drive safely and come back home with lot of comfort and smiles on their faces.
(some data regarding figures are taken from http://en.wikipedia.com/ thanks for this information)