Road Safety Management : Issues & Perspectives

Roads are the main blood vessels of a city. Road Network and its standard indicate the status of a city. Road transportation is under stress due to increase both in population and in vehicles. Apathy shown towards road transportation system, lack of enforcement and improper road culture have resulted in a global epidemic called Road Traffic Injuries (RTI). Across the world, about 1.2 million people lose their lives and as many as 50 millions get injured annually in road crashes. Out of which, 85% of the deaths and 90% of the injuries occur in developing countries. This costs the developing countries about 1-3% of their GNP. An integrated, comprehensive and sustainable road safety management is essential. The government of -- a nation should take the initiative and co-ordinate with all stakeholders of the roads. The participants who can make valuable contributions, other than the government, are the non-Governmental organisation, private stakeholders, driving schools, vehicle manufacturers, medical fraternity, research organisations, media and the road users. Moreover, it requires technical and non-technical measures which have to be taken up simultaneously to curb this major disaster. The purpose of this book is to sensitise all to issue of road safety and to discuss the steps which need to be taken by the government and all stakeholders of the roads. This book is divided into three sections. Sections I discusses the causes responsible for road accidents like alcohol, human error, bad roads, defective vehicles etc. Section II talks about technical and, non-technical steps to curb this disaster, like Intelligent Traffic System (ITS), Road Safety Index, Emergency Medical Services and other tools. Section III consists of country experiences and cases like impact of Road Crashes on the Poor (Bangalore and Bangladesh); Road Safety: Issues and Initiatives in Bangladesh; Road Accident Reporting Computerised System in Thailand; Carriageway and Safety of Life in Nagpur City: Before and After Renovation of Roads and Driving Road Safety Forward (Shell initiatives in the Middle East).