Driving On National Shame: Indian Roads
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India’s roads are in the grip of a slow-motion public disaster.
A Daily Tragedy, National Apathy:
India recorded 4.61 lakh road accidents and 1.68 lakh deaths in 2022, that’s 460 lives lost every single day, a crisis equivalent to two daily plane crashes. Yet, public outrage and government response remain alarmingly indifferent.Systemic Failures Everywhere:
Over-speeding causes 70% of deaths, while drunk driving, untrained drivers, and unsafe public transport systems go unchecked. Poor road design, absence of pedestrian infrastructure, and lax enforcement amplify the risks across states like UP, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.Neglect of the Vulnerable:
The most affected are daily wage workers, schoolchildren in overcrowded vans, and rural commuters. Public transport, especially in Tier-2/3 towns, is outdated, unregulated, and dangerous, a grim reflection of state neglect and societal complacency.Global Contrast, Missed Lessons:
While countries like Sweden (with only 2 deaths per 100,000) have made safety systemic through “Vision Zero,” India’s death rate stands at 12.8 per 100,000. Licensing corruption, weak infrastructure, and traffic law apathy have led to a chronic public safety failure.Call for Urgent National Mission:
Road safety must become a nationwide priority on par with Swachh Bharat. A cultural and systemic overhaul is needed, stricter laws, better infrastructure, emergency response systems, public education, and accountability. Every road death is a governance failure.
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Tags: UN, Veto, Global Governance, Security Council, Crisis
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JULY 2025
India’s roads are in the grip of a slow-motion public disaster.
With over 4.61 lakh road accidents reported in 2022, resulting in 1.68 lakh fatalities and 4.43 lakh injuries, we are witnessing a preventable massacre.
That’s nearly 460 deaths every day, the equivalent of two passenger aircraft like AI=171 Ahmedabad – London crashing daily without outrage or reform.
These are not mere numbers; they are shattered families, orphaned children, and irreversible loss. And yet, the response remains shockingly indifferent.
This crisis is not theoretical; it has faces, names, and grieving families.
From school children crushed in overloaded vans to national treasures like Fauja Singh or business personalities like Cyrus Mistry lost to poor highway design, the bloodshed cuts across class, caste, and geography.
Rajesh Pilot, Sahib Singh Verma, Gopinath Munde, Jaspal Bhatti to name a few who lost their lives in a road accident.
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This crisis is not theoretical; it has faces, names, and grieving families
Those were severely injured include Rishab Pant, whose illustrious cricketing career might have been cut short, had it not been the by-standers who helped him to hospital.
Yet, national consciousness treats it as background noise. There are no war rooms, no emergency funds, and no prime-time debates.
But there should be.
Because this is not just a traffic issue, it's a governance failure, a cultural malaise, and a national shame.
What the Numbers Reveal?
Behind this crisis lies a deadly combination of policy neglect, poor enforcement, and behavioural decay.
Over-speeding alone accounts for over 70% of deaths, while drunk driving, wrong-side driving, and overloading are chronic violations.
States like Uttar Pradesh (22,595 deaths in 2022), Tamil Nadu (highest number of accidents), and Maharashtra, MP, Rajasthan, and Karnataka show consistently grim figures.
Poor road design, especially at railway crossings, unlit rural highways, and urban flyovers, complexes the danger.
India’s unregulated public transport system is a silent contributor to its road safety crisis, particularly in semi-urban and rural belts.
Tragically, many victims are the most vulnerable. Daily wage earners on two-wheelers, women walking to work, early morning walker, school children using informal transport.
Every day, schoolchildren are transported like cargo in overcrowded auto-rickshaws, mini-bus, tractor trolleys, or modified vans with little regard for safety norms.
It is not uncommon to see ten to fifteen children packed into vehicles meant for half that number, driven by underage or untrained drivers.
Remember the 22 children injured critically in Panvel, Maharashtra school bus burning incident ?
In many Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, private buses run unchecked without proper permits or fitness certificates, often operating beyond capacity.
Meanwhile, state-run transport fleets suffer from chronic underinvestment, deploying outdated buses with poor brakes, worn-out tyres, and absent safety infrastructure.
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Remember the 22 children injured critically in Panvel, Maharashtra school bus burning incident
Drivers are seldom trained in modern defensive driving techniques or passenger handling, and are often overworked, underpaid, and incentivized by trip-based commissions that encourage speeding.
The economic toll is equally staggering, road accidents cost 3–5% of India’s GDP annually, draining national productivity, health services, and family savings.
And this figure doesn’t account for the unquantifiable trauma endured by victims and their kin.
India isn’t just losing lives, it’s losing its human capital.
India’s road death rate stands at 12.8 per 100,000 population, one of the highest globally.
In stark contrast, Sweden records only 2 per 100,000, while the UK reports 2.6, and Japan just 3.
These countries have achieved safer roads through strict enforcement, disciplined driving culture, and intelligent road design.
Learning from Sweden’s Vision Zero policy, which prioritizes human life above traffic efficiency, has made safety a systemic priority.
Sweden is widely regarded as the global benchmark for road safety, and with good reason.
Since launching its groundbreaking Vision Zero policy in 1997, built on the principle that no loss of life on the road is acceptable, the country has radically transformed its traffic ecosystem.
Unlike conventional models that place responsibility solely on drivers, Sweden’s approach integrates human weakness into road design.
Crash cushions, rumble strips, separated bike lanes, and elevated pedestrian crossings are standard features meant to reduce the severity of inevitable human errors.
Enforcement is both strict and intelligent.
Alcohol limits are rigorously policed, and automated speed cameras are backed by swift fines and a culture of public accountability.
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Enforcement is both strict and intelligent
Perhaps most crucially, becoming a licensed driver in Sweden is no casual affair, it requires up to two years of structured training, practical lessons in varied driving conditions, and rigorous written and road tests.
The result: fewer accidents, lower fatalities, and a road culture anchored in responsibility, respect, and design-led safety.
While India battles road anarchy and weak enforcement, Sweden proves that disciplined governance, people-centric infrastructure, and an uncompromising vision can turn roads from death traps into safe, inclusive public spaces.
Meanwhile, India continues to struggle with chaotic traffic, weak regulation, and poor infrastructure.
This international gap highlights the urgent need for India to adopt global best practices in both governance and public road behaviour.
Indian road policy outlook needs to follow Sweden’s Vision Zero model, focusing on design that accounts for human error.
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Why the System is Broken
India’s road safety system is marked by crumbling, indifference, and double standard.
Licensing remains shockingly careless, often based on bribes rather than competence.
Vehicle fitness tests are rarely enforced, and enforcement authorities themselves are understaffed, underpaid, and often complicit in corruption.
Regulatory oversight remains fragmented across local transport authorities, and enforcement is often limited to random checks or superficial penalties.
Attempts to regularize or digitalize transport systems have either stalled or failed due to corruption, lack of political will, and public apathy.
As a result, India’s public transport, a lifeline for millions, operates in legal grey zones that compromise both dignity and safety of the passenger, especially the most vulnerable: children, women, and the elderly.
Public transport, especially in smaller towns, runs on the edge of legality, with untrained drivers operating overloaded and unregulated vehicles.
Our cities are built for vehicles, not people, with no footpaths, pedestrian signals, or safe crossings.
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VIP convoys flout rule, even seen without seatbelts
Even the few reforms India attempted, like the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, are diluted or poorly enforced.
Meanwhile, road behaviour reflects deeper cultural issues. VIP convoys flout rule, even seen without seatbelts.
Helmets are considered optional, especially for pillion riders.
Zebra crossings are ignored.
Road rage is endemic.
The lack of empathy on Indian roads is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all, a place where ambulances are blocked in traffic, rather than given way.
Every schoolchild packed in an illegal van, every overturned highway truck, every black spot unrectified is a crime of omission by the state.
If road safety is a mirror of civil society, we are failing that reflection.
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Road Safety: A National Duty
This crisis demands nothing less than a full-spectrum national response.
Every road death must be treated as a policy failure, and every life saved as a national victory.
The time for polite reports and half-hearted enforcement is over. India doesn’t need more laws, it needs urgent action, ruthless accountability, and a cultural overhaul of road behaviour.
Foremost, India must declare road safety a national mission with the same urgency as Swachh Bharat or Digital India.
Public transport needs urgent investment, regulation, and modernisation, with an eye on dignity, not just mobility.
The absence of GPS tracking, passenger accountability, or emergency response protocols makes the entire system not only inefficient but deadly.
Hence, a centralised crash response system, with ambulance GPS, blackspot mapping, and real-time traffic monitoring, must become the norm.
Schools must teach road civics as seriously as science and mathematics.
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It will fail India’s journey to Viksit Bharat
We must overhaul driver licensing with psychometric testing, launch a universal crash response system, and enforce helmet and seatbelt rules for all passengers, not just drivers.
If we can’t protect our citizens on something as basic as the daily commute, what does development even mean?
It will fail India’s journey to Viksit Bharat.
Most importantly, we need a cultural reset: where following traffic rules is seen not as obedience, but as patriotism; where slowing down is not a weakness, but wisdom.
Again, India’s roads are a national emergency hiding in plain sight. If every four minutes, someone dies in a road crash, that’s over 1.68 lakh lives lost annually, more than any war or natural disaster we’ve faced in decades.
We must treat every death on the road as a policy failure and an avoidable tragedy.
The clock is ticking. Either we rescue Indians on road with courage and commitment, or we continue to bury the future, one accident at a time.
India has waited too long. The time for action isn’t tomorrow. It’s now.
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