SAVE YOURSELF FROM " ROAD ACCIDENTS"

THINGS ARE AT FAULT:-

1.Drivers - Over speeding, rash driving, violation of rules, failure to understand sign and fatigue

2.Pedestrian - Carelessness, illiteracy, crossing at wrong places, moving on carriage way

3.Passengers - Projecting their body outside vehicle, by talking to drivers, alighting & boarding vehicle from side travelling on footboards, catching a running bus etc

4.Road Users - Excessive speed and rash driving, violation of traffic rules, failure to perceive traffic situation or sign or signal in adequate time, carelessness, fatigue, alcohol,sleep etc.

5.Vehicle - Defects such as failure of brakes, steering system, tyre burst, lighting system,overloading, projecting etc.

6.Road Condition - Skidding road surface, pot holes, ruts, merging of rural roads with highways, diversion etc.

7.Road design - Defective geometric design like inadequate sight distance, inadequate width of shoulders, improper curve design, improper traffic control devices and improper lighting,.

8.Weather conditions - Fog, snow, heavy rainfall, wind storms, hail storms etc.

9.Environmental factors -Unfavourable weather conditions like mist, snow, smoke and heavy rainfall which restrict normal visibility and makes driving unsafe

10. Other causes - Improper location of advertisement boards, gate of level crossing notclosed when required etc

Measure taken to prevent road accident

  Adapting the environment

    Changes to the road environment to reduce traffic volumes and speeds, separate cyclists from other vehicles and improve safety for pedestrians can have a positive impact on levels of RTAs and injuries. 

    Area-wide traffic calming measures (e.g. speed humps, narrowing roads, 20mph zones or road closures) have been found to reduce traffic speeds and injuries, particularly among children (12-15).

•         The average speed within the zones was 17mph

•         Mean traffic speeds had reduced by an average of 9mph

•          The use of red light cameras (these identify vehicles crossing a junction after a traffic light has turned red). There is some evidence that they can reduce right-angled collisions, but rear-end collisions have been found to increase, suggesting they may not be a successful safety measure

•         Marked pathways for cyclists on roads. Clearly marked lanes for cyclists on the road can reduce injury rates when compared to unmarked roads ;

•         The use of school crossing patrols.an evaluation of their use in the late 1980s suggested that they can reduce the number of accidents occurring to child pedestrians at, or near, crossing sites ;

•         Safe routes to school initiatives. These combine different measures to create safer routes to school for children, including: better pavements; traffic calming measures; safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists;

•         By-passes that divert traffic out of towns and villages;

•         Improving rural routes for walkers and cyclists;

•         Reviewing and reducing traffic speeds on country lanes;

•         Reducing speeds at problematic junctions or locations (e.g. through the use of vehicle activated signs or rough road surfaces);

•         Removing road markings (e.g. central white lines) from narrow roads;

  Safety education and skills training

•        Promoting the use of safety equipmen

    A range of educational and promotional methods have been used to encourage the use of safety equipment, often with the provision of free or discounted equipment. These have included: information and lessons targeting parents and/or children; media campaigns highlighting the importance of their use; and health promotion counselling by clinicians.demonstrations of helmet protection and information about how to wear a helmet properly. Helmets were offered to children at a low cost.

                    2.2 Safety education programmes for pedestrians

                      Education programmes have been used to increase an individual’s ability to cope with traffic environments and so reduce pedestrian injuries.

                    2.3 Driver training / education programmes

                    Driver education programmes aim to increase the safety behaviours of drivers and reduce driver errors.

                    2.4 Media education campaigns

                      In the UK, media education campaigns have been used to increase knowledge, and change attitudes towards, a range of road safety behaviours using television, radio, and printed materials such as newspapers, posters and magazines. For instance, in England and Wales the Government’s THINK! campaigns have promoted: road safety among children and older people; reducing driving speeds in both rural and urban areas; wearing seat belts; and using child restraints.

                    3.Addressing drink driving

                    Addressing drink driving is  implemented to reduce levels of drink driving in the community. These include bar server training programmes and designated driver programmes.

                    3.1 Bar server training programmes

Bar server training programmes train bar staff how to serve alcohol responsibly, with the intention of slowing patron drinking and preventing customers from becoming intoxicated.

3.2 Designated driver programmes

                      Designated driver programmes promote the use of one person (within a group of friends) abstaining from alcohol during a night out and driving the other individuals home safely. Information on designated driver programmes are either disseminated through media campaigns or through initiatives based in nightlife settings that offer incentives (e.g. free soft drinks).

  4. Multi-component community interventions

    Comprehensive interventions that engage the community at large and combine strategies such as education programmes and traffic calming measures can be effective in reducing the incidence of childhood pedestrian injury

  5. Enforcement of legislation      

    There is a wide range of legislation relating to roads, vehicles and drivers that protect road users and pedestrians against accidents (see box on road safety legislation).

  5.1 Speed enforcement detection devices

    Speed enforcement detection devices (e.g. speed cameras and laser and radar devices) can be effective in reducing traffic speeds and reducing the level of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths in the vicinity of device sites

  5.2 Increased policing for drink and drug driving

  The presence of police on the roads (and the threat of arrest) can act as a deterrent for people considering driving after drinking alcohol or taking drugs.