The killing fields of Kerala

DoDi

Statetrends Kerala's roads are turning into killing fields with eight lives getting snuffed out in road accidents every day. For the first time in the State's history, the number of deaths due to road accidents crossed the 3,000 mark in 2004. Kerala is the second most accident-prone State in the country after Maharahstra.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The devastating tsunami of December 26 claimed 176 lives in Kerala. It is universally acknowledged as the worst-ever disaster in the State's history. But, few seem to see the tsunami of a different kind that is sweeping away precious on Kerala's roads. Every 22 days, Kerala is losing as many lives as the killer tsunami had claimed in road accidents.

The statistics are startling and, put together, they tell the story of how Kerala's roads are turning into killing fields with eight lives getting snuffed out in road accidents every day. For the first time in the State's history, the number of deaths due to road accidents crossed the 3,000 mark in 2004, the exact number being 3,066 dead in 41,306 accidents....

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crvlvr

If you look at the rate of Accidents/1,000 vehicles, the statistic has decreased significantly over the years from 63 to 15. Obviously, the number number of accidents per year would go up because the number of vehicles on the road are going up year by year. If you compare the death rate to the death rate for motorcylce accidents in the Kerala to the US, it is only about 50% higher. Given that road and weather conditions are so much worse in India, I think the rate is not that bad.

Bigzero

watch out for those buses if you are driving in kerala. it is sheer madness. i had some narrow misses.

They suddenly appear in the rearview mirror, with the ugly snarl, honking incessantly, flashing lights sometimes, so close to your rear bumper that you will find it difficult to hold your nerve. I step up the gas by instinct, but it gets worse. god knows how they do it, but those buses can fly. The sane thing to do is to give way as soon as possible. But once you allow them to overtake, you will find them immediately stopping to pick up passengers, blocking your way, and leaving you fuming. it is difficult to keep cool

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DoDi

I was only there for a month, and yet I saw a house and a car smashed by huge logs that had fallen off the back of a trailer, an autorickshaw that had been smashed absolutely flat by a bus, a multicar pile up near the tamilnadu border, and numerous other accidents. In the time I was there my host's cousin was hit on his motorcycle and wound up in a vegatative state in the hospital and another relative was severely hurt in a separate accident.

Oncoming buses, especially the government run buses, were the worst hazards... they barrel down the middle of winding roads at full speed passing other vehicles as though they were the only thing on the road. And given thier size you better not challenge them or assume they will make room for you. The government bus drivers in Kerala are nuts! Keralans all were in agreement that riding on one is tantamount to a death wish.

iyou

More people, ten on average, die everyday crossing tracks and falling off trains in Bombay than die on roads in Kerala. Just my small, useless observation.

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Nick-H

It's about the same number as die on the roads in UK (but less than the number of people that die of things they catch in hospital there).

But really, Indian road safety is atrocious. How about helmets for motor-cyclists, for a start...

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DoDi

Kerala's traffic death rate is twice that of the UK (at least what it was in 2001 when UK deaths from traffic accidents was 6.1 per 100K). But even then, I'm a little surprised that the Brits figure is as much as half as bad.

crvlvr

Two wheelers inherently have a higher accident rate. that must be taken into comnsideration while comparing kerala's accident rate to developed countries. Compare it against the motorcycle accident rate of a developed country, and you will see that it is more in line.

2cents is absolutely right about all the corruption and poorly planned roads. But one unplanned benefit of road congestion is a lower death rate due to the slower speed. That IMHO is why the accident rate/1,000 has decreeased in Kerala.

Trust me, with all the regulations we have in the US, we still have our fair share of idiots on the road -- especially senior citizens, who may have lost most of their faculties but have retained their license.

DoDi

It just occurred to me (thinking about the nick-H's suggestion that motorcyclists where helmets) that I never once saw anyone with a seatbelt on, or even a seatbelt at all.

Has anyone ever seen a seatbelt in India?

crvlvr

Belive it or not, I saw a driver in Bangalore receive a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt.

rangss

The same city is not in a hurry to enforce the helmet rule

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byronic

My solution, when an accident seems imminent, is to pull my Gilligan's Island style Gilligan hat (the kind all Japanese tourist wear) firmly down over my eyes, and pretend nothing is even happening. I figure as long as I hear the driver honking the horn, I am not dead yet, and all is very very well
OMG what scary statistics, I will pretend I did not read this thread, thank you. Dog is my co-pilot

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fotowallah

Helmets? Seatbelts? Turn signals? What are they?

Actually, what I find most unnerving is when the whole family is piled onto a motorbike or scooter, no one has a helmet, the sari-clad mom is riding sidesaddle with an infant sleeping in her lap and the 6-year-old is standing in front of papa holding onto the handle bars. I've seen as many as 5 young men riding on one motorbike...I still can't figure out how they did it.

Has anyone taken a bus from Bangalore to Calicut? It's overnight and goes through the mountain pass in Wayanad, the western ghats at around 4 AM...the buses attempt it at unbelievable speeds, the wheels sliding over loose gravel and cinders, the whole bus lerching around hairpin turns, with fully loaded lumber trucks coming up the pass the opposite direction. The whole thing is a white-knuckle experience. I started calculating how long it would take someone to find the bus (and our dead and mangled bodies) after it plummetted over a ravine in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Never do it again, no matter how much my indian friends make fun of me for always wanting to fly everywhere. At least you have seatbelts and are required to use them on the plane.

I'm always reading about some side-saddle woman getting bounced off the back of a motorbike and getting killed by oncoming traffic, usually a city bus. I've seen some really, really nasty accidents with usually a bus or a truck or both involved. But after a certain point, the risk is so high, you sort of just have to relax and accept it and not worry so much about it.

manojb

I am against mandating helmets or seat belts. It is not the Government's job to protect stupid people from themselves. But of course, the fact that a person was not wearing a helmet/seat belt should be allowed to be a partial defence to the insurance company/whoever if the guy sues for damages.

cyberhippie

When we stop pandering to the chauvinistic attitude of some drivers in India we will see a improvement!!
Tata Sumo's always seem to driven too fast by complete maniacs often with a full familly of 10-14 people inside!
Scary!!