Introduction:
Civil Engineering Seminar topic on the "Study of Road Accidents in India”. Road accidents are one of the causes of disability, injury and death. India has the highest road traffic accident rate worldwide with over 140000 deaths annually, beating even China. Every hour nearly 14 lives are lost due to road accidents. Most accidents occur during peak hours considered an ‘unsafe’ or dangerous time due to complex flow pattern of vehicular traffic. Thus traffic engineers have to undertake a big responsibility of providing safe traffic movements to the road users and ensure their safety. Road accidents cannot be totally prevented but by suitable traffic engineering and management the accident rate can be reduced to certain extend.
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Common causes for Road Accidents in India are:
SPEEDING
CARELESS DRIVING
DRINKING DRIVING
SEAT BELT WEARING
INEXPERIENCE
LOSS OF CONTROL
FAILED TO LOOK PROPERLY
AT WORK
UNSAFE VEHICLE DESIGN.
LACK OF PROPER LAWS.
Pathetic condition of roads are caused by Defects in the quality of materials used, Defects in construction methods and quality control during construction and not following the correct geometric standards Inadequate surface or subsurface drainage in the locality resulting in the stagnation of water in the sub grade or in any of the pavement layers, Lack of proper maintenance are required there are listed below.
STEPS TO BE TAKEN FOR PREVENTING ROAD ACCIDENTS.
Strict enforcement of speed limits.
One way traffic should be implemented.
Roads should be widened wherever required.
Curvatures should be minimized.
Footpaths and medians should be made mandatory for all important roads.
Zebra crossing should be provided.
Provide signals, road markings, sign posts.
Construction of humps in important places, accident prone areas,etc.. And it must be mark properly to avoid accidents.
Traffic rules should be strictly enforced.