24-02-2021 | 14:56 PM
World Bank Report: Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities: The Burden on Indian Society
Context
Recently, the World Bank published its "Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities: The Burden on Indian Society" report. This report was released by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, on 13 February 2021.
Key Highlights
The report was published by the World Bank in collaboration with SaveLIFE Foundation.
The report highlights the socio-economic impact of road accidents and it analyses the Medical care access and post-accident financial distress of various categories of people.
The data for the report was collected from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
According to the report, India tops the world in road crash deaths and injuries. It has 1% of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11% of all road crash deaths.
India is witnessing 53 road crashes every hour and killing 1 person every 4 minutes.
India has seen around 4.5 lakh road accidents in the past year which resulted in at least 1.5 lakh deaths over the past few years.
According to a 2018 World Health Organization report, India tops the world in road crash deaths, with more than 400 fatalities per day.
Poor households disproportionately bear the socio-economic burden of road accidents. Accidents result in a decline of 75% of total household income among low-income groups, whereas the decline among high-income groups is only 54%. It demonstrates poor access to insurance schemes among the less privileged.
According to the report, about 50% of women were severely affected by the decline in their household income after a crash.
Nearly 40% of women reported a change in their working patterns post-crash and around 11% women reported taking up extra work to deal with the financial crisis.
Compared to rich families, there are more deaths in poor families from road accidents. The risk of a victim undergoing disability after a crash was also twice more likely among poor families.
The income decline for low-income rural households (56%) was the most severe compared to low-income urban (29.5%) and high-income rural households (39.5%).
According to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Estimates, Socio-economic cost of Road Crashes is equivalent to 0.77% of the GDP and 76.2% of people who are killed in road crashes are in their prime working-age which is between 18-45 years.
