Traffic Safety and Health in Indian cities

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TRAFFIC SAFETY AND HEALTH IN INDIAN CITIES
DINESH MOHAN*
* Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety Transportation
Research and Injury Prevention Programme, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi,
India
INTRODUCTION
A sustainable transport system must provide mobility and accessibility to all urban
residents in a safe and environment friendly mode of transport. This is a complex and
difficult task when the needs and demands of people belonging to different income groups are
not only different but also often conflicting. For example, if a large proportion of the
population cannot afford to use motorised transport - private vehicles or public buses - then
they have to either walk or ride bicycles to work. Provision of safe infrastructure for
bicyclists and pedestrians may need segregation of road space for bicyclists and pedestrians
from motorised traffic or reduction in speeds of vehicles. Both measures could result, though
not inevitable, in restricting mobility of car users.
Similarly, measures to reduce pollution may at times conflict with those needed for
reduction in traffic crashes. For example, increases in average vehicle speeds may reduce
emissions but they can result in an increase in accident rates. But, most public discussions
and government policy documents dealing with transportation and health focus only on air
pollution as the main concern. This is because air pollution is generally visible and its
deleterious effects are palpable. It is easy for most people to connect the associations between
qualities of motor vehicles, exhaust fumes and increased morbidity due to pollution.
However, most individuals are not able to understand the complex interaction of factors
associated with road accidents. Health problems due to pollution are seen as worthy of public
action whereas those due to injury and death in accidents as due to individual mistakes.
Therefore, policy documents dealing with sustainable development for cities always include
options for pollution reduction but rarely for road traffic injury control.
In this paper we discuss some of the issues concerning public transport, safety and the
environment. We illustrate that unless the needs of non-motorised modes of traffic are met it
will be almost impossible to design any sustainable transportation system for urban areas.
We show that pedestrians, bicyclists and nonmotorised rickshas are the most critical elements
in mixed traffic. If the infrastructure design does not meet the requirements of these elements
all modes of transport operate in sub-optimal conditions. However, it is possible to redesign
the existing roads to provide a safer and more convenient environment for non-motorised
modes. This also results in improved efficiency of public transport vehicles and enhanced
capacity of the corridor when measured in number of passengers transported per hour per
lane.
COMPLEXITY IN URBAN TRAFFIC AND HEALTH
Dealing with technology and health in the public space is much more complex than
we think. If your stress test shows that your heart muscles have become weak, you can panic
and demand a single magic pill to solve all your problems. However, your doctor will only

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80
laugh at your demand. Instead, he will tell you to change your diet, do a set of prescribed
exercises every day, alter your life style, and take a set of medicines every day. In addition,
he will also ask you to monitor your health status periodically and change your drugs
accordingly. Tackling traffic flow, vehicular pollution and road accidents are no less
complex. These problems require the same level of scientific expertise, interdisciplinary
cooperation, and long-term attention as any other public health problem.
To solve problems of vehicular pollution we need to work from first principles. Quite
obviously, the most long lasting solution would be if people travelled less. This depends
mostly on how your city is organised. Mixed land use helps. Homes, businesses, hospitals,
schools, entertainment areas, all need to be intermixed in localities. This is happening more
by default than policy in our cities. Thelawalas going house-to-house selling things reduce
trips; vegetable shops, dhobis, mochis, paan shops, and tandoor stands in neighbourhoods
eliminate thousands of scooter and car trips. Presence of hawkers on city streets makes it
safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, especially women, as crime on those streets reduces. The
hawkers serve as permanent eyes of the street and the police officers use them for obtaining
information on criminals. Potential criminals are quite aware of this! Even the existence of
poor neighbourhoods cheek by jowl with rich ones may be reducing motorised trips and
increasing employment. When you shift low-income people to the periphery of a city you
have to provide bus transport to the formally employed. But the others become unemployed
and may take to crime.
The second long term solution is to encourage non-polluting modes of travel. There is
only one -- human-powered travel. We should be designing our streets so that walking,
bicycling and the use of rickshas becomes safer and much more pleasant. If it were so, many
more people would be using these modes, especially younger people. City planning
experience from Beijing in China to Portland in the USA suggests this is true. Street designs
are available which show that segregated paths can be provided for bicycles and rickshas on
existing arterial roads in most cities. When you do this even the motorised traffic benefits,
because friction reduces, flow becomes smoother and pollution reduces further. Surveys
show that even in a city like Delhi almost fifty percent of the trips are less than 5 km long. If
walking and bicycling were safer, more children would not need to go by bus or in their
parents vehicles. And parents would be free from chauffeuring their children around. Such
policies would not only reduce pollution but also deaths and injuries due to traffic crashes. At
present all our policies are doing exactly the opposite. There is no place on our roads for the
walkers and the bicyclists; you have to walk long distances to cross a road; and free left turns
at crossings don=t allow for any safe period for pedestrians to cross.
The third strategy is to make public transport affordable, convenient and safe. No
Indian city has improved bus transport in the last decade. Urban buses are still following
designs of the 1950s. The service is unreliable and unsafe especially for children, women and
the elderly. However, recent developments in communication and computer technology have
made it possible to optimise bus operations and provide customer-friendly services at very
low cost. It is now possible for buses to Acommunicate@ with traffic lights so that they get
priority at intersections. Modern urban buses have low floors only 350 mm high from the
road. These buses make entry and exit much safer and faster. None of these options is being
planed for our cities.
The fourth strategy is to reduce the pollution from vehicles. This is the only area
where the government has taken some significant steps. Lead has been removed from petrol.

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This will save millions of children from brain damage. In Delhi two wheelers are sold petrol
premixed with oil at pumps. This prevents bad and excess oil use and reduces pollution. The
diesel being sold in Delhi is less polluting than before. Cars being sold in Delhi now follow
more stringent pollution norms. Two wheeler pollution standards in India are among the most
stringent in the world and our two wheeler manufacturers are doing a good job of meeting
these standards by their R&D in this area. However, much more needs to be done. Such
measures must not be Delhi-centric. They must apply all over the country. After all,
according to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi is not the most polluted city in India.
There are many more which are more polluted.
It is easy to list the above principles but not so easy to make and implement effective
policy. All policies, like drugs, have side effects. Before prescribing a drug you have to be
certain that the side effects are not worse than the disease! For example, our simple
calculations show that all the effects of reducing pollution from buses would be nullified if
only 10-15 percent of bus users shift to using two-wheelers or cars.1 This shift would also
increase congestion. Greater use of two-wheelers would also increase injuries due to
accidents. Therefore, before we make new laws that might increase the cost of buses, we have
to make arrangements for cross-subsidy of public transport. This follows from the Apolluter
and user pay@ principle based on the idea that those who pollute more should pay for the harm
they cause others. Since car users pollute the most per passenger kilometre, use the most road
space and injure more people per person transported, they must pay for their comfort that
harms others. Two wheeler users come next and bus users a low third. A pollution and road
tax paid by private vehicle users could help pay for better buses so that we avoid a migration
from buses to two-wheelers and cars.
It is quite clear that cleaner air and safer streets will come at a price, and only if we
have well thought out long term policies. The future committees which deal with these issues
would be well advised to consider all the complex issues, consider the Aside effects@and
perform cost effectiveness studies before issuing edicts. If we don=t do this, the air will not be
cleaner and a lot of people will be angry.
ROAD SAFETY IN INDIA
According to official statistics 76,732 persons were killed in road traffic crashes in
India in 1998.2 According to these statistics, 324,377 persons were injured in 1998. However,
this is an underestimate, as not all injuries are reported to the police. The actual numbers are
likely to have been in the region of 1,150,000 persons with injuries requiring hospital
treatment and 5,370,000 persons sustaining minor injuries in 1998. The basis for these
estimates is given in later section. The situation in India is worsening as shown in Table 1.
Road crash fatalities and casualties have been increasing over the past twenty years. This is
partly due to the increase in number of vehicles on the road and partly due to the absence of a
coordinated official policy to control the problem. These data show that the number of
fatalities have continued to increase at approximately the same rate of about five percent a
year over the past two decades and the total number of fatalities in the year 2000 can be
approximated at about 85,000 persons. The fatality rate per million vehicles have remained
around 2 for the past two years, whereas, the rate per million population continues to increase
and is around 82 at present.

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82
Table 1. Number of vehicles, population and road traffic fatalities in India.
Year Vehicles,
million Population Fatalities
Thousands Fatalities per
1,000 vehicles
Fatalities per
million
population
1971 1.865 548,159,652 15.0 8.04 27.36
1975 2.472 625,246,123 16.9 6.84 27.03
1981 5.391 683,329,097 28.4 5.27 41.56
1985 9.170 772,196,737 39.2 4.27 50.76
1991 21.374 843,930,861 56.6 2.65 67.07
1992 23.507 861,693,859 59.7 2.54 69.28
1993 25.505 879,279,448 60.6 2.38 68.92
1994 27.660 897,223,927 64.0 2.31 71.33
1995 30.295 915,534,620 70.7 2.33 77.22
1996 33.558 934,219,000 71.9 2.14 76.96
1997 37.231 949,200,000 75.0 2.01 79.01
1998 N.A 965,600,000 80.0 NA 82.85
Source: Ministry of Surface Transport: Motor Vehicle Statistics & Statistics of Road Accidents in India
Table 2 shows the total number of vehicles registered in India and three highly
motorised countries (HMCs) and Table 3 the road users killed in traffic crashes in HMCs and
less motorised countries LMCs. These data show that car population as a proportion of total
motor vehicles is much less in India than in the HMCs (12% vs 56-80%) and that the
proportion of motorised two-wheelers (MTW) much higher (69% vs 5-18%). These
differences in fleet composition affect the traffic and crash patterns enormously. Table 3
shows that pedestrians, bicyclists and MTW riders constitute a larger proportion of road crash
victims in LMCs than in HMCs. Pedestrians, bicyclists and MTW riders, who constitute the
vulnerable road users (VRU), constitute 60-80 per cent of all traffic fatalities in India. This
flows logically from the fact that this class of road users forms the majority of those on the
road. In addition, because metallic or energy absorbing materials does not protect VRUs,
they sustain relatively serious injuries even at low velocity crashes.
Table 2. Vehicles registered in India, Germany, U.S.A and Japan
Country Two
wheelers Cars, jeeps &
taxis Buses Trucks Other Total
India
1996 23,111,385
(68.8) 4,189,367
(12.4) 448,970
(1.3) 4,362,723
(13.0) 1,445,081
(4.3) 33,557,526
(100)
Germany
1996 2,470,450
(4.9) 40,987,547
(82.0) 89,954
(0.2) 2,273,473
(4.5) 1,899,800
(3.8) 47,721,224
(100)
U.S.A.
1996 3,816,000
(1.8) 138,203,000
(66.2) 701,000
(0.3) 64,756,000
(31.0) 1,356,000
(0.6) 208,832,000
(100)
Japan
1996 15,120,000
(17.9) 47,000,000
(55.6) 244,000
(0.3) 22,000,000
(26.0) 118,000
(0.1) 84,482,000
(100)
* Numbers in parentheses represent row percentages
The issues summarised above show that India is experiencing a new phenomenon in
road traffic patterns and crashes for which there is little precedence. The same road space gets
used by modern cars and buses, along with locally developed vehicles for public transport
(three-wheeled scooter taxis), scooters and motorcycles, bicycles, tricycle rickshas, and
animal and human drawn carts. The infrastructure design based on homogeneous traffic
models, has failed to fulfill the mobility and safety needs of this traffic.

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Table 3. Proportion of road users killed in various modes of transport as a per cent of
all fatalities.
City, nation (year) Pedestrians Bicyclists Motorised
two-wheelers
Motorised four
wheelers Others
Delhi, India (1994)+ 42 14 27 12 5
Thailand (1987)+ 47 6 36 12 -
Bandung, Indonesia
(1990)+
33 7 42 15 3
Colombo, Sri Lanka
(1991)+
38 8 34 14 6
Malaysia (1994)+ 15 6 57 19 3
Japan (1992)# 27 10 20 42 1
The Netherlands (1990)# 10 22 12 55 -
Norway (1990)# 16 5 12 64 3
Australia (1990)# 18 4 11 65 2
U.S.A. (1995)# 13 2 5 79 1
+ LMCs # HMCs
Non-motorised transport (NMT) constitutes a significant share of the total traffic in
Indian cities and all have a relatively high rate of bicycle ownership and a high proportion of
bicycle traffic. In Indian cities, the share of NMT at peak hour varies from 30-70%. The
proportion of trips undertaken by bicycles range between 15 and 35 per cent, the share
tending to be higher in medium and small size cities. The patterns of NMT use change with
growth in city size. In most NMT dependent cities, bicycles are used for the entire trip (e.g.,
commuting, shopping). Every motorised public transport trip involves access trips by NMT
at each end. Thus, NMT including walking continues to play a very important role in meeting
the travel demand in Indian cities.
In HMCs a very large proportion of the population owns motorised vehicles. These
countries can also afford to have roads parallel to limited access expressways and the former
are used by local traffic and by vehicles not allowed on expressways. In India, highways pass
through rural areas with high-density populations where most of the people do not have
access to motor vehicles. Four lane divided highways in India do not have parallel road links
for slow and non-motorised traffic. This forces slow and non-motorised traffic to use these
highways and to cross them under very hazardous conditions for all concerned. It is not
surprising that a majority of the victims of road crashes on inter city highways are the
vulnerable road users. Highway planning standards provide for services needed by motorised
vehicle users, but there are no standards for providing services needed by NMT. These
services mushroom along urban or inter-city highways to fulfil the demand of road users,
however their existence is viewed as "illegal encroachment" on the designed road space.
The HMCs have never experienced road traffic that includes such a high proportion of
motorcycles, buses and trucks sharing the same road space with pedestrians and bicyclists.
When the present HMCs had low per capita incomes in the earlier part of the last century,
motor vehicles (including motorcycles) were relatively more expensive and not capable of as
high velocities and accelerations. Therefore, speeds were lower and number of vehicles using
the roads was less than that seen today. In a sense, motor-vehicle technology, roadway
quality and social systems were more compatible. On the other hand, in India new designs
have to be developed for use of technologically advanced vehicles using relatively “less
advanced” roadways and enforcement systems. The fact that these patterns are new and that

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84
they need to be understood through careful scientific research is not realised by most policy
makers. If we just depend on HMC standards and research results to solve problems in India,
we may find the outcome very unsatisfactory.
ESTIMATE OF TRAFFIC CRASH INJURIES IN INDIA
According to official statistics 76,732 persons were killed and 324,377 persons
injured in road traffic crashes in India in 1998. 2 However, a study done in Bangalore shows
that while the number of traffic crash deaths recorded by the police is reasonably reliable, the
total number of injuries is grossly underestimated.3 According to this study, deaths were
underestimated by 5% and the number injured who needed treatment in hospitals by more
than a factor of two. In this study, the ratio of injured people reporting to hospitals to that
killed was 18:1. It is important to note that even this ratio would be an underestimate as
among those injured many others would have taken treatment at home or from private
medical practitioners. Another detailed study done in Haryana (India) recorded all traffic-
related injuries and deaths through bi-weekly home visits to all households in 9 villages for a
year.4 This study showed that the ratio between critical, serious and minor injuries was
1:29:69. In 1998 in U.S.A. 41,471 persons were reported killed and 3,192,000 injured, giving
a ratio of 77:1 for recorded fatalities:injuries. Other studies from HMCs for ratios between
deaths:serious-injuries:minor-injuries give statistics of 1:13:102 5 and 1:14:80 .6
Using the epidemiological evidence from India and other countries where better
records are available, a conservative estimate can be made that the ratios between deaths,
injuries requiring hospital treatment and minor injuries to be 1:15:70 in India. If the estimate
of road traffic fatalities in India in year 2000 is taken as 85,000, then the estimate of serious
injuries would be 1,275,000, and that for minor injuries 5,950,000.
ROAD SAFETY IN METROPOLITAN CITIES OF INDIA
Some salient statistics regarding road crash fatalities in cities are given in Table 4.
The issues regarding traffic crashes in urban areas may be understood by the fact that at
present less than one in 40 families owns a car in India. The car ownership level in India is so
low that even at reasonable economic growth rates (say 5-7% per year) most families are not
likely to own a car in the year 2020. Consequently, a majority of the population in India is
not likely to use cars for surface travel for the near future. This low ownership level of cars
determines the distribution of fatalities by class of road user. Table 5 shows the proportion of
road users killed in different parts of India and Table 6 the proportions of vehicles involved in
fatal crashes. The data presented in these tables are based on available national statistics and
on reports available. The data show that VRUs are the main victims both on urban and rural
roads. A study by Kajzer, Yang and Mohan also shows that in India buses and trucks are
involved in a greater proportion of crashes than they are in HICs.7 Analysis of crash patterns
show that the self-segregation of the modes is not sufficient to ensure the safety of vulnerable
bicyclists. While mid block crashes are not usually a serious concern in homogenous
regimented traffic conditions, this category dominates in Indian cities. The overall statistics
for bicycles fatalities in Delhi show that 60% of bicycle fatalities occur off-peak time when
traffic volumes are lower but motor vehicle speeds are high. Forty per cent of the fatal
bicycle crashes are during peak hours when volumes are significantly higher and speeds are
lower (20 to 30 km/h). Of the peak hour bicycle fatalities, 62% involve collisions with buses
or trucks. And, of all bicycle fatalities, 73% occur at mid-block. Buses and trucks are

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85
involved in higher proportion in fatal crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists than in non-fatal
crashes. Motorised two wheelers and cars have a higher involvement in non-fatal crashes than
in fatal crashes. This is generally true for urban and rural areas. These data show that in India
safety policies must focus on issues concerning the safety of VRUs and their interactions with
trucks and buses.
Table 4. Number of road accidents & persons killed and injured in Indian cities.
Persons Killed Cities 1996 1997 1998
Ahmedabad 215 239 218
Bangalore 715 704 726
Calcutta 474 471 454
Chennai 615 749 682
Cochin 144 142 47
Delhi 2361 2342 2123
Hyderabad 342 377 370
Jaipur 263 303 302
Mumbai 405 401 370
Nagpur 217 387 204
Pune 283 329 369
Coimbatore 179 198 N.A.
Indore 174 171 151
Ludhiana 162 N.A. N.A.
Madurai 110 203 334
Surat 133 152 152
Vadodara 141 142 144
Viskhapatnam 158 218 216
Total 7091 7528 6862
Table 5. Proportion of road users killed at different locations in India
Type of road user, per cent Location
Truck Bus Car TSR MTW HAPV Bicycle Pedestrian Total
Mumbai 2 1 2 4 7 0 6 78 100
Delhi 2 5 3 3 21 3 10 53 100
Highways+ 14 3 15 ~ 24 1 11 32 100
TSR: Three-wheeled scooter taxi; MTW: Motorised two-wheelers, HAPV: Human and animal powered
vehicles; + Statistics summary of 11 locations, not representative for the whole country (tractor fatalities not
included).
Source: Evaluation of capacity augmentation projects of National Highways and State Highways (2000), Final
Report, Ministry of Surface Transport, GOI, New Delhi

Traffic Safety & Health in Indian Cities
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Table 6. Proportions of vehicles involved in fatal crashes*
Location Vehicles involved, per cent Total
Truck Bus Car TSR MTW
Mumbai 52 16 24 3 5 100
Delhi 40 33 16 4 7 100
Highways 65 16 15 1 3 100
* Only those cases included where details were known, totals for these vehicles only, others not included.
Source: Evaluation of capacity augmentation projects of National Highways and State Highways (2000), Final
Report, Ministry of Surface Transport, GOI, New Delhi
These issues may be summarised as follows:
(a) Around 15% of the total road traffic fatalities in India occur in 23 metros.
(b) In the metros, MTW comprise approximately 70% of all vehicles and constitute 20-
30% of fatalities.
(c) Heavy vehicles like trucks and buses are associated with 50-70% of fatal road crashes
both in urban and rural areas.
(d) The non-motorised transport road users consisting of pedestrians, cyclists and other
slow moving vehicles are the most vulnerable group and account for 60-80% of the
(e) fatalities.
(f) Between 8:00 pm at night and 4:00 am in the morning, crash rates are high compared
to the density of traffic. This may be due to prevalence of higher vehicle speeds, low
visibility, low conspicuity of vehicles and alcohol.
(g) The issues concerning safety of non-motorised transport have not been given adequate
importance. Policies need to be developed so that these groups are included as an
integral part of traffic in the planning of new highway and area planning schemes.
(h) Inadequate work is being done to analyse the characteristics of road traffic crashes
involving NMT users so as to understand and design suitable countermeasures.
SAFETY ON INTERCITY ROADS
All road and highway design guidelines and
standards in India are issued by the Indian
Roads Congress (IRC). These are
recommendatory standards and the IRC does
not have any role to oversee whether these
are followed or not in practice. The IRC
constitutes many committees to oversee the
need for development of a new standard or
revision of an old one. The responsible
committee then requests its members or an
outside expert to prepare a draft of the
standard, which is discussed in the
committee, distributed for comments and
Table 7. Percentage share of fatalities
on different categories of roads(1991)
Road Type
Fatalities (%)
National Highways 25.3
State Highways 22.2
Lower Categories Roads 52.5
Source: Statistics of Road Accidents in India -
1983 – 1992,MOST (Road Safety Cell) January,
1994.

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87
then finalised by the committee. All this work is voluntary in nature. Table 7 shows the
percentage share of fatalities on different categories of roads in India.
Improvement of national highways in India is being given a great deal of importance
as a part of national efforts to become economically competitive globally. However, the
guidelines for highway development generally follow specifications, which are not yet
tailored to India specific situations as far as road safety is concerned. This is because detailed
crash data have not been available which could be used to understand the causal factors
associated with road crashes and which had a bearing on road design issues. Perceptions
about highway crashes formed by highway users may not reflect the reality about the
problem. Everyone sees damaged vehicles stranded on the highways and thus believes that
these kinds of crashes would constitute the main problem. However, a recent study sponsored
by Ministry of Highways and Road Transport shows that though these types of accidents do
cause large economic, time, and efficiency losses, they do not result in a majority of the
fatalities.8 Tables 5 and 6 show the type of road users killed on highways and the impacting
vehicles respectively. Data from Mumbai and Delhi are included to compare the situation in
urban areas with that on highways. Table 5 shows that in urban areas motor vehicle occupants
constitute 5-10 per cent of the fatalities and the rest are vulnerable road users. On highways,
the proportions are 32 and 68 per cent respectively. Though the motor vehicle fatalities are
higher on highways than in urban areas, as would be expected, the differences are not as high
as in western countries. A vast majority (68%) of those getting killed on highways in India
comprise vulnerable road users and this fact should be the guiding factor in future design
considerations.
The above aggregate data indicate that crash patterns on rural and urban roads are
more similar than would be expected based on western experience. This is probably because
there is high density of settlements all along the highways and this probably results in the use
of many sections of the highway like an urban arterial road. Therefore, safety would be
enhanced mainly by separating local and through traffic on different roads, or by separating
slow and fast traffic on the same road, and by providing convenient and safe road crossing
facilities at frequent intervals to vulnerable road users and by making sure that the design
guidelines regarding issues like super elevation, etc. are observed strictly.
Table 8 shows the crash statistics by categories of highways. It is interesting to note
that there are no major differences in overturn type of crashes on 2-lane and 4-lane roads.
Similarly, there are no major differences in head-on collisions on differences in different
types of 2-lane roads. However, it is very surprising that on 4-lane divided roads head-on
collisions comprise 19% of the crashes. Divided 4-lane roads are justified on the basis that
these would eliminate the occurrence of head-on collisions. This means that many vehicles
are going the wrong way on divided highways. This is probably because tractor and other
vehicle owners go the wrong way when they exit from roadside businesses, farms or homes
and the cut in the median is too far away in the other direction. This issue needs to be taken
up seriously to develop guidelines for the placement of cuts in the median or for providing
under/overpasses for vehicles at convenient locations.
Rear end collisions (including collisions with parked vehicles) are high on all types of
highways including 4-lane highways. This shows that although more space is available on
wider roads rear-end crashes do not reduce. This would probably have to do more with the
visibility of vehicles rather than road design itself. Countermeasures would include making
vehicles more visible with the provision of reflectors and roadside lighting wherever possible.

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Table 8. Road traffic crashes by categories of highways.
Crash type in per cent Highway Type Overturn
Head-on Angle Rear-end
Pedestrian
and
bicycle
Fixed
object Other
Intermediate lane ~ 13 13 13 ~ 13 48
2 lane w/o shoulder 7 14 2 31 23 5 18
2 lane + 1.5m paved shoulder 5 11 ~ 16 45 11 16
2 lane + 2.5m paved shoulder 5 17 2 25 19 13 17
4 lane divided 4 19 7 19 35 2 13
Source: Evaluation of capacity augmentation projects of National Highways and State Highways (2000), Final
Report, Ministry of Surface Transport, GOI, New Delhi
Impacts with pedestrians and bicycles have a high rate on all roads including 4-lane
divided highways. The rate seems to be lower on 2-lane highways with wider (2.5m) paved
shoulders. These findings suggest that wider shoulders reduce conflicts between slow moving
traffic and motor vehicles but do not eliminate them. For these type of crashes to be reduced
the following countermeasures need to be experimented with:
(a) Physical segregation of slow and fast traffic
(b) Provision of 2.5m paved shoulders with delineation devices like cats eyes, studs,
rumble strips (300 mm in width) between the main carriageway and the shoulder
(c) Provision of frequent and convenient under-passes (at the same level as surrounding
land with highway raised to provide clearance) for tractors, pedestrians, bicycles and
NMT
(d) Traffic calming in semi-urban and areas and villages.
Collisions with fixed objects are low only on 4-lane divided highways. Provision of
adequate run-off area without impediments is very important on highways and better road
markings to indicate the alignment of the road would help also. We need to develop standards
for provision of convenient tunnels and other crossing facilities in terms of designs and
frequencies. In addition, there would also be a need for provision of “service roads” along the
highways for short distance trips for local traffic. At present, there are no such guidelines to
help the local designer and planner.
VEHICLE DESIGN ISSUES
The operation and safety of motor vehicles of India are controlled by the Motor
Vehicles Act (1988) and the Central and State Motor Vehicle Rules. The safety standards for
motor vehicles are included in the section on Construction, Equipment and Maintenance of
Motor Vehicles of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. These standards set technological
requirements for motor vehicle parts and structures and are issued by the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways.

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Most automobiles are traded internationally these days. Therefore, it would make
sense for such vehicles to conform to some minimum international standards. This would
apply most importantly to automobiles. India should also apply additional standards to make
the vehicles more suitable for their specific traffic conditions. Some of these issues could
include the possibility of making turn indicator lights more conspicuous and more easily
visible to pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists, and impact standards for pedestrians,
bicycles and motorcycles with cars. Vehicle design issues that might need special
consideration in India are summarised below.
Country specific vehicles
There has been a growth of vehicles in India that have been designed locally and do
not conform to international safety standards. There is a wide variety of these vehicles but
they can be broadly classified into three groups: (i) three-wheeled vehicles, (ii) four wheeled
vehicles, and (iii) trailers pulled by tractors or other similar vehicle s. Construction methods,
materials used and economic considerations will not allow for the imposition of international
car safety standards on these vehicles. It will also not be very easy to design very efficient
crash attenuating frontal structures for them. However, design changes can be attempted in
the following areas: (i) improvements in rollover characteristics of the vehicles; (ii) body
designs which restrict passenger ejection from vehicles; (iii) removal of all pointed and sharp
objects from the inside surfaces of the cabin (eg. bolts, rivets, etc.); (iv) provision of impact
absorbing padding in areas where passengers are likely to hit the vehicle surfaces during a
crash; (v) improvements in conspicuity of the vehicles and lighting arrangements. The types
of changes mentioned above will not require heavy investments in research and can be
implemented with local initiative. A crash modelling exercise to improve the safety of three-
wheeled scooter taxi has been attempted in India, which indicates that this is possible.9
Design of less aggressive buses and trucks
During the past decade, the pedestrian safety problem for impacts with private cars in
HMCs has been studied using mathematical models, epidemiological studies, and impact
tests with mechanical dummies and biological materials. Various recommendations for the
front structure design of vehicles (mainly private cars) have been made. However, the fronts
of buses and trucks have not been designed to be "forgiving" in impacts with VRUs.
Preliminary studies show that it is possible to design fronts of buses such that impact forces
in a bus pedestrian impact can be reduced significantly.7 A similar study has been done for
fronts of trucks also.10 Much more work needs to be done to optimise properties for impacts
at different velocities and for different age groups of pedestrians. Once these material
properties are determined, then designs will have to be developed for retrofitting old vehicles
also. Standards will have also to be developed for crashworthiness of buses and trucks for
impacts with motorcyclist and bicyclists.
Bicycles and motorised two-wheelers
Since bicycles and motorcycles constitute a significant proportion of vehicles in India,
and their riders a large proportion of road crash victims, there is a need to invest much more
on research for the safety of these road users. Areas which need attention are conspicuity of
these vehicles, design changes to make them more stable, and work on making helmets
lighter, and more comfortable at high ambient temperatures.

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MOTOR VEHICLE RULES AND LEGISLATION
The operation of motor vehicles and the rules regarding traffic control are also set in
the Central and State Motor Vehicle Rules. This is because traffic and transportation are state
subjects in India. However, there is a great increase in interstate vehicular traffic in India and
there is a trend toward homogenisation of traffic norms internationally. Therefore, it may be
desirable to review the situation in India and evolve new guidelines which suit the Indian
requirements but in keeping with the international norms.
Traffic is regulated and offenders apprehended according to the provisions of the
Motor Vehicle Rules and the Criminal Procedure Code of India and the various states. The
provisions of these codes and rules need to be re-examined in the light of international trends
where many traffic offences are being decriminalised and moved to the civil domain. The
effectiveness of policemen on the street also depends on the road infrastructure, technological
support given to the policemen and the socio-economic environment of the country where
they operate. To make suitable changes all these issues will have to be examined in depth by
professionals so that they can suggest suitable changes.
STANDARDS AND INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
The following measures that have already been adopted may be considered as ones in
the right direction:
1. Enactment of mandatory helmet laws for motorised two-wheeler riders (MTW).
However, the law is not being enforced in all states of the country because of
resistance from small vociferous groups.
2. Seatbelt equipped cars along with other safety features like laminated windshields,
etc., and enactment of seatbelt use laws. The use law is not being enforced in any
state. No motor vehicle crash test requirements are mandated presently.
3. Law against use of cell phones in moving vehicles in some locations.
4. Fronts and backs of trucks and buses and three-wheeled scooter taxis are painted
yellow in some states to make them more conspicuous. The effectiveness of this
measure has not been evaluated.
However, the expertise available in India in traffic management and safety research at
all levels (central, state, city and departmental) is not adequate for the task at hand. There are
no well funded and functional road safety departments at any level any where in the country.
The funds allocated for road safety work, audits and research are also critically sub-optimal.
Very few academic and research institutions in India have dedicated road safety professionals
at present. This is because the subject has not been given any importance and no specialised
groups have been set up which have the critical mass necessary to produce meaningful work
on a sustainable basis.
The traffic conditions in India are very different from those experienced in western
countries. The latter countries also have never experienced our problems in their past.
Investing time and effort to come up with traffic management techniques is therefore very
important for road designs and vehicle standards that suit our new reality. Nevertheless, our

Journal of Transport & Infrastructure, Vol. 9(1); Feb. 2002
91
present safety policies are only statements expressing concerns. Safety targets are not based
on an analytical understanding of data. Data recording and analysis are not reflected in
various improvement measures undertaken by various implementing authorities.
Improvement schemes or new schemes are not evaluated to understand their impact on safety
and "lessons learned" are not documented. Implementing authorities that include the Public
Works Department and the Police Departments do not have the expertise and exposure to
interdisciplinary analysis methodologies and research findings from other regions of the
world. Sustained efforts and coordination are required between policy makers, implementing
agencies and researchers to understand and control the safety situation from further
deterioration.
The real issues and problems which road users face and which are associated with road safety
must be identified and understood. Institutions, both governmental and non-governmental,
have to be set up and funded so that road safety programmes can be set and implemented on a
sustainable basis. The identified road safety plans and strategies must have the acceptance of
a wide range of community groups and new technologies and designs must be identified,
developed and implemented.
In recognition of some of these facts a recent report published by the Planning
Commission of the Government of India has included the following policy recommendation
in the text of the Tenth Five Year Plan document on the road sector:11
“To evolve suitable corrective measures and initiate actions it is imperative to
have scientific analysis of accidents. To improve safety in the long run, safety
audits must be undertaken on all the roads. To save the accident victims it is
essential to strengthen trauma care centres and hospitals to exclusively deal
with accident cases. Highway surveillance through automated cameras and
police patrol may be enhanced. To address this serious problem of road
accidents Road Safety Boards will have to be established at different levels
namely, District, State and Central. These institutions will address this problem
on rapid and sustained basis.”
The Committee has suggested that a special budget be set aside by the Government
for the achievement of these objectives. If the National Road Safety Board is set up as
suggested, it will give the impetus needed for improving the road safety situation in India.
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2. Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 1998 (2000). National Crime Records Bureau,
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Delhi.

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