World Bank Report: Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities: The Burden on Indian Society

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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.