The Traffic Woes

The Traffic is very bad these days….

Oh you know its worse where we live in the heart of the city, when I have to cross the road to drop my son for his school bus that comes on the other side..mind you..its SCARY….

One is not oblivious of this or the similar kind of conversation that happens with us, around us. Its there, you just cant avoid it.

What is the first thought that comes to mind on hearing the word ‘Traffic’??

I don’t expect a pleasant image especially when the newspapers are thronged with something bad happening on roads…everyday...every moment…

Well, the dictionary meaning of the word says that it denotes mobilization/transportation of goods and commodities, but with the course of time, the very meaning of the word has undergone drastic change.

‘Traffic’ is now more readily associated and brings forth some familiar images in mind, i.e. the ever increasing number of vehicles on roads, the continuous honking of the horns, the exchange of heated arguments and blows if someone ‘supposedly’ does harm to you by overtaking on wrong side or close encounter with the vehicle and so on.

The statistics show that around 1.2 million lives are lost each year worldwide due to road traffic accidents. This means that on average 3242 people were killed daily on the world's roads. 20 million to 50 million people were injured or disabled in road collisions.90% of road traffic deaths occurred in low-income and middle-income countries, having 81% of the world's vehicles.

‘Road Traffic accidents’ have been enlisted as one of the leading causes of death worldwide and ironically India holds dubious distinction of having the highest road crash fatalities in the world, with 1% of vehicular population it accounts for 10% of the fatalities. Further, we are practically losing the most productive people as 80% of road crash victims are between the age group of 15 to 40 years. One cannot underestimate the gravity of the situation and the dire need of the hour.

A traffic scenario is said to be comprised of three most essential components. i.e. the Human/Road User, the Vehicle and the Road Environment/Infrastructure.

There has been lot of emphasis on the widening of roads, on enforcement and improvement of the infrastructure to solve all traffic problems, but ironically somewhere the ‘being’ that operates the vehicle has been ignored.

Though ‘Human Error’ is said to be the most potent factor behind road accidents nothing substantial has been done in our part of the world to understand the ‘human psyche’ behind the steering wheel.

There has been a lot of research in the West on driving behavior, though initiatives are being done with behavioral experts at govt. institutes like the CRRI (Central Road Research Institute) but still this field is in its infancy in India and has a long way to go before making a mark here.

I have just started my research on this field which we call as ‘Traffic Psychology’ and I hope and believe that knowledge and awareness can act as catalysts bringing forth the behavioral change that is the Need of the Hour.