Road Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable · Web viewRoad Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable road users. 2011 Roshan Toshniwal, IFMR, CDF, Transparent Chennai.Page

[Road Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable road users.]Road safety has been a grave concern with the city’s limited roads and exploding vehicular traffic. In course of solving the vehicular traffic problem, pedestrian safety and space has been neglected. Last year, pedestrians accounted for 43% of all fatalities and continue to remain amongst the most vulnerable road user in the city. The research highlights the infrastructure and expenditure for pedestrian facility in the city and its necessity for better accessibility to public transport, especially the metro.

Presented at:Safety Conference 2011 on Safety in Industries.

29th and 30th July 2011.IEI Auditorium

Under the aegis ofSafety and Quality forum, New Delhi.

Organiser:Tamil Nadu State Center,

The Institute of Engineers (India),

2011

IFMR, CDF, Transparent Chennai

Roshan Toshniwal

Road Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable road users. 2011

Road safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable road users.

Introduction:

Road accidents in the past few decades have emerged as one of the biggest cause of caution in the world. In 2004 it was the ninth leading cause of death and at the current rate will become the fifth leading cause of death globally by 2030. (World Health Organisation, 2009)

India surpassed China to record the highest number of people killed in road accidents in 2008 and for the past few years around 1.2 lakh people succumb to this. Road accidents accounts for 37.1% of the people involved in an unnatural cause of accidental death in the country. Tamil Nadu had reported 60,409 road accidents which accounted for 14.5% of the entire country in 2008. (National Crime Records Bureau,Ministry of Home Affairs., 2009)

Chennai the “Detroit of east” is home to several automobile and engineering companies, and its roads are a reflection of the variety of vehicles plying on them. Since 2004 the city has recorded a growing rate of accidents and high fatality rates. Chennai with its suburbs had recorded second highest number of fatalities amongst all urban centres in the country after Delhi in 2008. (Transport Research Wing,Ministry of Road Transport and Highway Department, 2008)

Figure 1: Accident trends in Chennai City

Source: Chennai Traffic Police.

Increase in road accidents could be attributed to high speed driving and negligence of motorists. The city is also being clogged with increasing vehicle population which has risen by three times in past ten years. The number of vehicles registered in Chennai is around 34 lakhs of which over 72% are two wheeler and on an average 1780 vehicles are added on Chennai’s road every day. 1

The city has about 69 arterial roads of which 23have accounted for 47% of the accidents in the city in the last five years.2 Most accidents occur near the signals, unmanned junctions and blind curves. Thus it is important to understand the various nuances of road safety, the challenges and the problem in greater detail before arriving at solutions.

1 http://www.tn.gov.in/sta/g3.pdf2 Analysis of data received from the Chennai Traffic Police dated 14.03.2011

Roshan Toshniwal, IFMR, CDF, Transparent Chennai. Page 2

http://www.tn.gov.in/sta/g3.pdf


Challenges and the representation of the Problem

The economic and social cost of accidents has been assessed between 1-2 % of the GDP in developing countries. A Planning commission study in 2002 estimated the social cost of road accidents in India at Rs 55,000 crore annually (2000 prices), which constitute 3% of the GDP. (Ministry of Road Transport andHighways, February, 2007)

Infrastructure and vehicles are considered the hardware of road safety while education and campaign, driver’s training, traffic law enforcement, and rehabilitation and diagnostics could be categorised as the software of road safety. As road safety is a large subject, it is essential to focus on a more specific problem area that can be altered to effectively reduce accidents.

Hardware: Infrastructure and Vehicles

Figure 2. indicates the trend of number of people affected due to accidents based on the mode of transport in the past five years. The research reveals that the vulnerable road users i.e., pedestrian and cyclist together form 33% of the accident affected parties in the city. According to the Chennai traffic police pedestrian constituted 43% of the fatalities in the city last year. This is an indication that the roads are certainly more dangerous to the vulnerable road users than the motorists.

Figure 2 People affected in accident mode wise

Source: Analysis based on the data received by Chennai Traffic Police.

Two wheelers being the highest number amongst all motorised vehicles forms 30% of the accident affected party in the city while cars form 13% and autos and other motorised vehicles together form 22% of the accident affected people.

According to the second master plan the daily person trip is estimated to be around 13.3 million in Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) of which almost 33% are commuted by walk, 19% by two wheelers



and 26% by public transport. Thus, walking is an important and the most common mode of commute in the city. And as pedestrian and non motorised vehicles are involved in a large number of accidents it will be interesting to see the total stock of infrastructure devoted to them.

In the past five years the number of vehicles in the city is increasing at 10% while there is meagre increase in the motor able roads causing congestion and reduction of driving speed in the city. To increase the traffic speed the authorities have resorted to various traffic engineering techniques like road widening, flyovers, one ways etc.

In the course of improving facilities for the motorists the authorities have neglected and marginalised the pedestrian infrastructure forcing the pedestrians to walk on the roads and slowing down the traffic. Following are the salient pedestrian infrastructure in the city:

1. There are 141 one ways in the city which has no or minimal refuge & grade separated crossing for pedestrians. It is a big hurdle for the pedestrians to cross considering the heavy vehicular traffic on these routes. North Chennai has almost 60% of one ways in the city as it is very dense and the roads are too narrow to cater to the population.3

2. There are 25 pedestrian subways of which 17 are being managed and maintained by the city road division of the highways department. Apart from this there are 32 foot over bridges in the city and a few more suggested in the CTTS (Comprehensive traffic and transportation study) conducted by Wilbur Smith.4

3. There are 218 signals of which 39 signals pedestrian movement. The duration of pedestrian movement sign varies from 8 to 15 seconds which is very less for a disabled person to cross. There are 29 CCTV cameras installed at busy junctions of the city of which 12 are localised.5

4. There are 425 zebra crossings, 185 bumpy speed breakers and 327 pedestrian crossings in the city which are maintained by the Chennai traffic police. Apart from this several neighbourhoods in the city also build and maintain traffic calmer in their neighbourhood.6 Traffic calmer is essential for pedestrians to cross roads at traffic hours.

Last financial year the Corporatation of Chennai spent only Rs 45 lakh for building and maintenance of pavement in zones 1 to 9 receiving Rs 5 lakh each while zone 10 received only Rs 1000 for the same.

Most parts of the Chennai metro rail route lies on Anna Salai, EVR Periyar Salai and the Inner Ring Road which account for 18% of all accidents in the city in the past five years. The inner ring road in particular has many stretches with no pavements and has no pedestrian grade separator crossings either. The stretches where the metro is going to ply underground are going to be accessible through the abutting sidewalks which need to be broadened to cater to the heavy pedestrian traffic.

Table1. is a map comprising of the roads which are most accident prone, the Chennai metro corridor, the zonal administration boundaries and the subways and foot over bridges. The intensity of the colour increases as the number of accidents on that road increases. The map is to show that the intensity of accidents on most part of the metro route is the highest in the city.

3 RTI data received from Chennai Traffic Police on 14.03.2011.4 RTI data received from Corporation of Chennai and City road division of the Highway Department.5 RTI data received from Chennai Traffic Police on 14.03.2011.6 RTI data received from Chennai Traffic Police on 14.03.2011.



Table 1Accident hotspots with the metro route and subways& FOBs

Source: www.transparentchennai.com

Table 2. is a compilation of the length of footpaths, roads and hawker occupied stretches in each zone. This information is as per the government records and was received by the concerned zonal offices through RTI (Right to Information) Act.

The authorities have been diplomatically maintaining that building pavements encourage hawkers to squat and the pedestrians continue to walk on the roads while their own records confirms that hawkers occupy only 3% of the pavements in the city and in zone 8 alone it is around 5%.


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Table 2: Zone Inventory of the footpaths, roads and hawkers

S.No Zone

Pavement width (km)Length of stretch

occupied by Hawkers (km)

No. of Wards

Road Length (Km)

less than 1 1 -1.45m 1.5m 1.6 -2.0 2.1-2.5

more than 2.6 Total

1 I 8.895 11.909 10.39 7.227 1.5 0.651 40.572 0.107 13 193.3162 II 3.601 11.531 8.47 3.963 0.84 2.15 30.555 3.3 18 146.1583 III 2.76 15.46 10.605 3.435 0 0.5 32.76 4.965 18 No reply4 IV 42.597 24.327 10.82 0 2.343 3.55 83.637 0.15 14 381.485 V 0 15.05 18.173 0.6 0 0 33.823 0.15 15 326.796 VI 26.35 28.025 20.628 15.63 5.86 6.643 103.136 2.45 18 93.6757 VII 5.045 28.291 0 0 7.8 0 34.116 0.458 17 170.9018 VIII 10.804 84.281 39.703 91.488 10.715 4.09 241.081 13.045 16 302.1789 IX 55.523 10.692 5.38 8.57 2.065 82.23 2.98 12 216.188

10 X 24.921 21.975 76.565 21.835 2.29 0 147.586 1.038 15 391.421Total 180.496 251.541 200.734 152.748 33.413 17.584 829.496 28.643 156

Source: Corporation of Chennai through RTI

As per Indian Road Congress IRC 103-1988 a pavement width should be minimum 1.5 meters unobstructed and as per the guidelines the width should vary based on the pedestrian traffic. The city has only about 25 kms of 1.5m wide unobstructed pavements and 80% of it lies in Zone 6. The IRC guidelines are usually meant for Highways which have minimal pedestrian movements, and as there are no separate guidelines for urban areas it could be applicable for urban centers.

Zone 8 which is the commercial hub of the city with localities like T- Nagar, Kodambakkam, Vadapalani etc. has the highest length of footpaths and hawkers in the city and has 3 subways and 4 foot over bridges. Zone 10 has the highest stretch of roads with only 38% of them having footpaths. North Madras roads have the least footpath coverage as the roads are narrow and the density is high making the pedestrian most susceptible in these areas.

When the various infrastructure is overlaid on the accident hotspots of the city it can be observed that the arterial roads have many signals in short intervals. As most signals are synchronised the motorists rush through the signals without observing the surrounding traffic movement or the signals and collide causing injuries. With a choking traffic the two wheelers resort to driving on the pavements without any consideration for the pedestrians. Thus being a pedestrian has become a curse on the Chennai roads as their space is encroached by hawkers and shops, parking, utility box and now is being used by the two wheelers as a driving lane.



Software: Measures to implement effective road safety:

The government of Tamil Nadu had formulated a road safety policy in April 2007, under which they have resolved to achieve a 20% reduction in fatalities, injuries and accidents by 2013 considering 2006 as the base year. To meet their goals the road safety policy has indicated to work in the following directions:

Engineering: To improve road infrastructure, and purchase road safety equipments like speed guns, display boards, signals, light batons, barricades etc. They also intend to improve the data collection process and create a reliable safety information data base.

Enforcement: By being vigilant and regulate the traffic speed to be within the safety limits. Creating institutions and financial mechanisms for implementing measures to ensure safer roads.

Education: Doing workshops and educating motorists and school children about safe driving and to cross the road safely.

Emergency Medical Response: Many accidental deaths occur as the victim is not given immediate medical attention. Thus, functioning of emergency accident relief centres are necessary near the accident prone zones.

Since 2006-07 about Rs 84 Crore has been sanctioned for various road safety works all around Tamil Nadu in various areas; 37 crore in Purchasing road safety equipments, 25 crore for improvement of black spots, 11 crore for upgrading intersections and 11 crores for awareness programmes and functioning of the emergency accident relief centre. (Sreevatsan, 2011)

Institutions and financing involved for Road Safety:

The Sundar Committee which is instrumental in drafting the National Road Safety Policy bill had highlighted that the responsibility of road safety management is highly fragments and diffused and there is no co-ordination between different agencies involved. The committee had recommended an independent body like TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission) which will not regulate but effectively implement and strategise road safety.

Road safety forms an integral part of road engineering, traffic management, vehicle regulation, environment regulation as well as laws governing these areas. While the corporation and the City road division of the highway department are responsible for road and traffic engineering, the enforcement of traffic regulation and accident investigation is the traffic police’s responsibility.

The transport department is responsible for driver and vehicle regulation and licensing and collection of taxes and funds to implement road safety. It is also responsible to co-ordinate between different agencies for road safety and regularly updates the legislation.

In Tamil Nadu every district has a road safety committee comprising of the collector and the highest ranked police officer in that district. In Chennai the road safety this committee is headed by the commissioner of Police and the additional commissioner of police (traffic) is the member secretary. There is a representation of all the high ranked officials from all concerned departments from Corporation, health, education, CMWSSB (Chennai metro water supply and sewerage board), electricity board, representative from the bus owner association, public works department and the development authority. The committee also includes consumer action groups and an NGO which are pro-active in this segment. The committee is to meet regularly and strategise measures for implementing road safety.

The state has been allocating road safety funds since 2000 which has increased from 2 crores to 40 crores in 2010. The source for this funding is from the fines collected from the motorists violating traffic rules. To increase and sustain funding for road safety in particular the government levied a road safety tax applicable to all the newly registered motor vehicles since August 2009. This is a onetime tax paid during registration of the vehicle at Rs 250 for motorcycle, Rs1500 for LMV and Rs 2000 for other vehicles.7

7 Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Taxation (Third Amendment) Act, 2009



The total road safety tax collected in the state since its inception is Rs 119.159 Crores. Last financial year Chennai traffic police received only Rs 2,31,55,000 for implementing programs for road safety while the city contributed Rs 15.5 crores under the road safety tax.8 As a huge surplus of money is collected a road safety tax monitoring committee is going to be formed to monitor the rational spending of this fund.

Best Practises and the methods adopted:

Most high income countries in their pursuit to have a good road safety management system has adopted a safe system approach which aims to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries than considering it an inevitable price for economic progress. It focuses on safer and reduced speeds along with reducing local air pollution and energy consumption. Its priority is to protect all road users inclusive of the vulnerable group such as pedestrian, elderly, children, cyclists and the two wheelers.

Netherlands has adopted a sustainable safety vision by categorising the roads into through roads, access roads and distributor roads and implementing a strict speed limit to all the roads. In high residential areas they have adopted a ‘woonerf’ system where the max speed is same as the walking/ cycling speed.9

While Switzerland and Sweden have adopted a vision zero strategy, where in human life and health are prioritised over mobility. Under this strategy there is a better co-ordination between the provider and enforcer of road transport systems. It also helped them in implementation of a central cable barrier to shield the driver from the opposite traffic.

Finland developed software called ‘TARVA’ for crash data analysis while New Zealand adopted a risk targeted road policing systems. All the countries have a strict safety norms for motorists which includes fastening of seat belts and using helmets besides high standards of safety mechanisms for automobile companies. (Tony Bliss and Jeanne Breen, 2009)

Conclusion

Roads and streets are the reflection of the city’s well being. If the public realm is safe to access for the vulnerable road users ( children, elderly, pedestrian, cyclists etc) the city is considered safe for living. As the city is expanding high speed transit system is becoming necessary. This can be achieved only if there is a reduction of vehicles and people switching to public transport. The current share of public transport is 29% and with the advent of modern and more comfortable public transit systems like metro and mono rail, BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) the city intend to increase this share to 55%.

Thus these public transport systems can be successful only if they can be accessed safely which is by walking. Hence, the emphasis on pedestrian infrastructure is a key to safe and sustainable urban transport system.

Bibliography

(National Crime Records Bureau) Ministry of Home Affairs. (2009). Accident Deaths and Suicides in India 2009. New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs.Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. (February, 2007). Report of the committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management. Government of India.Sreevatsan, T. a. (2011, February 19). Road Safety experts call for formulation of thrust areas. The Hindu .Tony Bliss and Jeanne Breen. (2009). Implementing the Recommendations of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. Washington D.C.: World Bank Global Road Safety Facility.

8 RTI information from the Transport Commissioner’s office.9 http://www.sustainablesafety.nl/


http://www.sustainablesafety.nl/


Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway Department. (2008). Road Accidents in India 2008. Delhi: Government of India.World Health Organisation. (2009). Global Status Report on Road Safety Time For Action. Switzerland: World Health Organisation.

Transparent Chennai hopes that bringing data to light about important civic issues like road safety will help bring more attention to under-recognized city problems, and help to empower citizens to hold the government accountable for making improvements. Transparent Chennai creates maps, data, and research on civic issues to empower citizens and increase government accountability. Residents of Chennai who are interested in civic issues are encouraged to log onto www.transparentchennai.com and join the movement to create information for change. For more information, call +91- 8695216937.


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Road Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable · Web viewRoad Safety in Chennai: A concern for the vulnerable road users. 2011 Roshan Toshniwal, IFMR, CDF, Transparent Chennai.Page