SAFE Road Safety Council
It is a shocking fact that more than one lakh people are killed in India every year in Road accidents. This is about than 10% of the death toll across the world in Road accidents. This indicates the high exigency to fight against Road accidents in every possible way and create awareness on road safety measures and precautions to be taken by every citizen in India in order to prevent accidents on Indian roads and save many lives.
Who we are?
Understanding the fact that the Road Safety is not only the shared concern but also the shared responsibility of the Government and a range of civil society stakeholders including Media, NGOs and every common man in the society, SAFE – a Hyderabad based not-for-profit organization established to promote the need for creating the accident free environment, has now taken up the community project “War Against Road Accidents”. The primary objectives of this project are to:
- Create awareness among the masses on road safety, traffic rules and accident preventive measures to be considered by every citizen in India;
- Help victims of road accidents and natural calamities through rescue and relief operations, providing emergency medical aid to save valuable lives.
Our mission: Promoting Road Safety through awareness actions.
Our spirit: Aggressive, long-term committed, and responsible.
Our objective: Promoting Road Safety as national cause in India, amongst the authorities and the civil sector.
What we do?
SAFE initiates the following programs to meet its core objectives:
- Promoting Road Safety Awareness.
- Organizing Cultural Programs & Events, Seminars, Debates etc.,
- Volunteering Traffic Control Assistance at the crucial and accident prone areas.
- Alerting the public through Public Addressing System.
- Patrolling, Construction of Foot-over bridges.
- Maintenance of Traffic Signals, Traffic Islands, Blinkers, Refreshment Parlors on the High Ways etc.,
- Providing Emergency Medical Aid to the victims of accidents and natural calamities.
SAFE will exercise to implement the advises indicated by the Road Safety Authorities and expert committees. SAFE feels that It is also the concern of each citizen to fight against Road accidents and save numerous lives and welcomes individuals, organizations to take part in various Campaigning programs on Road Safety to create awareness in masses about road safety measures, traffic rules, accident preventive measures, road discipline etc., for a safe and comfortable travel.
SAFE ensures it’s programs are in line with the action led by UNO, which just proclaimed the period from 2011 to 2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Road Accident Statistics
More than 1.2 million people are killed in Road Accidents, worldwide, every year.
- In India, more than a lakh people are being killed in Road Accidents every year.
- 3 to 4 % of Gross National Product is lost in Road Accidents.
- One child is killed in Road Accidents, every three minutes in the World.
- Total worldwide death toll of Tsunami of 2004 was about 2,30,000.
- But, the annual death toll of Road Accidents is 12,00,000…!! i.e., more than five times the Tsunami toll.
- While only few hundreds are killed in terrorist attacks, more than One lakh persons are killed in road accidents every year, in India.
- Threat due to terrorism is not being underestimated. Road accidents are to be firmly dealt with due importance.
Road Accidents & Indian Economy
- Total Annual economic loss of India due to road accidents is more than Rs.3,00,000 Cr !!!!!
- It’s more than TWO times the annual defense budget (Rs.1,41,703 Crores for FY 2009-10)
- Loss of earnings for family due to road accident death of an individual with annual earning of Rs. 2,00,000 is nearly Rs.ONE CRORE !!! (Assuming average age at death as 40, i.e. around 20 more years of earning life, 8 % annual growth in earnings )
Causes of Accidents
- Drivers’ fault – 77.91%
- Pedestrian fault / fault of passengers - 1.36%
- Mechanical defect in vehicles - 2.01%
- Bad roads – 1.32%
- Other factors like bad weather, cattle coming in the way, fallen trees, road blockage, absence of rear reflectors, road signages, non-functioning of road signals, etc – 17.40%
Vehicles & Roads
An industry report says that the automobile population has grown up to 170 times in the past 50 years where as the country’s road infrastructure has grown only 9 times.
On one hand there are about 25 lakh new vehicles being added every year on Indian roads, making roads more congested while on the other hand the majority drivers are untrained and unprofessional. This worsens the situation further leading to traffic jams and road crashes there by the loss of lives and property.
In order to maintain the smooth flow of traffic for a safe and comfortable travel, besides strict implementation of traffic rules and laws, it is also required to manage and control the traffic at high density, accident prone areas and other demanding areas.