There is every chance of surviving road accidents if the maximum speed is maintained at 40 kmph. If the speed is doubled, the chances of survival are only 20 percent.
Abhay Manohar Sapre, Chairman of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety and a former Supreme Court judge, said this here on Tuesday.
Speaking at a Chhattisgarh state-level review meeting on road safety at the Durg district Collectorate, he said there had been a sharp fall in accidents in countries where there was more awareness about road safety.
Sapre pointed out that the maximum deaths occur due to speeding, followed by non-adoption of safety measures like not wearing a helmet and seat belt. Drunk driving also leads to a large number of deaths.
If people follow safety rules, then most deaths on the roads can be reduced, he said.
Giving an example, he said Vietnam is taking progressive measures and there has been a significant decline in the number of deaths in road accidents.
He urged officials to work seriously on ensuring compliance of safety rules. With strict monitoring, people automatically start adopting traffic rules.
Sapre said road safety has now been included in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Chhattisgarh Transport Secretary Topeshwar Verma briefed on the initiatives taken by the state government for road safety.
