If the fatalities due to road accidents across the world are compared, Indian roads have sadly been one of the most unsafe ones for both the pedestrians as well as the motorists. Recent official data confirms that there is little improvement in the situation with time. While the previous reports showed a total fatality figure just upwards of 1.5 lakh in the year 2016, recent reports reveal that there is only a 1.9 percent decrease in the same by the end of 2017.
Pedestrians and two wheelers account for a major share of these fatalities, totalling up to 45 percent cumulatively. Though this can easily be blamed on the lack of basic pedestrian facilities (like a pavement!) in most places of India, even where the provisions are in place fail to see them being used. After all, two wheelers, open potholes, trees, encroachment by street vendors and even marketplaces on the pavements is a site quite frequently seen on Indian roads.
Add this to the blatant refusal to follow the road safety laws and you will have more than half of the reasons of the road fatalities. Unsurprisingly, deaths on two wheelers without the use of a helmet accounted for 6.7 percent of the total deaths on road in 2016. Similarly, 3.7 percent of total deaths were caused because of not wearing a seat belt. Exceeding speed limits, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving on the wrong side, lane jumping, use of mobile phones while driving are just some of the reasons adding to the total death tally on the roads.
So, who is to blame? Well, pointing fingers towards the government is not very justified. Given that laws have been put in place time and again ensuring more and more safety for the road users. Recent mandating of DRLs (Daytime-Running-Lamps) in vehicles, revision of truck axle loads, are just a couple of examples of how the government is doing its bit. A lot is in the pipeline too, like the compulsion of combined braking for two-wheelers below 125cc and ABS for those over 150cc.
There are, however, other solutions as well, mostly technology-driven, which are being appointed internationally for ensuring road safety. Here we go over some of the leading ones and see how they fit into the road transport network in India.
1.?Autonomous Driving?
Self-driven vehicles are not a thing of the future anymore and their globally prevalent use might come as a surprise to many. Most of the developed countries have set up everything in place for such vehicles to function. The reason for this is simple, more than 90 percent of the road accidents globally are somehow due to the driver¡¯s error. Autonomous or self-driving vehicles are aimed to eliminate that. Ideally, perfection cannot be achieved through any system whatsoever, but autonomous driving has been found to be safer than human drivers on a general consensus.
What¡¯s more, the self-driving capability of such vehicles is complimented by a dozen of other technology features ensuring safety. Take Tesla Model S for instance. The autonomous electric vehicle comes with assisted steering, side collision warning, Summon, automatic parking and even emergency braking.
As tempting as it sounds, we all know that bringing autonomous vehicles to India is as unpractical as washing your car in the rain. We can, however, pick and choose several associated features that have a great potential in avoiding road accidents. For instance, the emergency brake assist, already equipped in most of the Volvo models, can help majorly at the time of an impending collision on the road.
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2.?External Airbags
Airbags have long been the saviour of the unlucky ones who got involved in a road accident. Hence, it is no surprise that automakers are now looking to expand their use. The first thought was to protect those hit by a car and hence cars like Land Rover Discovery Sport are now equipped with ¡°pedestrian airbags¡± at the front. At the time of collision, a?sensor tube in the bumper of the vehicle detects if a pedestrian has been hit and accordingly deploys external airbags integrated into its bonnet panel. Even Mercedes-Benz and GM have patented similar safety systems involving external airbags.
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(Land Rover Discovery Sport Pedestrian AirBag)
3.?Intelligent Lighting System
This one is for the night riders and is one of the most practical, yet underrated solutions known to avoid road accidents. BMW embraces this in its Laserlight Headlamps. The laser-created light in the headlamps is fired through a series of mirrors within the headlamp assembly, which then reflects and focuses the light into a lens. The resulting light is claimed to be 10 times brighter than LED light and yet is so diffused that it never pinches the eyes of the oncoming vehicles¡¯ drivers.
The system is not just limited to a brighter light. The listed benefits of BMW Laserlight Headlamps include spotlighting animals and people, hands-free functionality (adjusting lights as per the oncoming traffic), head-up display and a very cool, GPS enabled functionality that allows the lights to swivel left or right as per the oncoming turn, providing a much better visibility at turns at night.
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BMW
4.?Emergency Braking System
There is more to this than the name suggests. A necessary part of the autonomous driving mechanism, the emergency braking system employs a series of sensors to detect any and every obstruction on the road that might be a cause of a collision. For this, a linking feature in the form of a collision warning system is also put into use to first warn the driver of any frontal roadblock. In case the driver fails to respond, the emergency braking system kicks into action and stops the vehicle before the collision takes place.
5.?Electronic Stability Control
Several automakers have already started appointing this technology, enabling a semi-autonomous help to the driver in the time of need. A group of sensors in a vehicle using this technology are able to monitor the driving patterns and the road scenario. If in case the driver loses control of the vehicle, the electronic stability control takes over and stabilises the vehicle within the marked lanes and at an optimum speed. This also appoints the emergency braking system if and when required.
Along with these advanced technologies being brought into play by the major automakers, several small technological assistance are also of great help for drivers which can be converted into a mandate for vehicles in India. One such assistance is the ¡®long-drive warning message¡¯ which is being displayed in some of the high-end cars on the Indian roads, when the driver has been driving for too long.