Road safety shocker: 80% road accidents caused by valid license holders

The statistics are scary: 80% road accidents were caused by drivers with valid licenses in 2017; over 25 per cent Indians hold more than one driving license; 59% driving licence holders never took a test, few understand road rules. Clearly, there are enough loopholes that make it easy for Indians to beat the system and flout the law.

Sure, India’s on the path to issuing uniform licenses starting 2019, but the real bigger concern that needs fixing is how drivers procure a driving license in the first place.Since a majority have never taken a driving test, they are big threat on the roads. And with over a quarter having a second license, in the case of an event where a license is impounded, these people can soon get back behind the wheel using their other license. Says Piyush Tewari, CEO, SaveLife Foundation, “Uniform licensing is a progressive step primarily because it will ensure lot more transparency, lot more robustness in licensing system, but we need to do a lot more in fixing how to get a license.” According to Amar Shrivastava, founder, Indian Road Safety Campaign, Solve, “What we also need in uniformity in procuring license in the first place. There have been recommendations from transport ministry regarding a written and practical test for driving license, but they aren’t followed across all regional transport offices (RTOs) in the country.”
As per a road perception survey, a whopping 59 per cent driving license holders in India have never taken a competency test. Besides discrepancies prevalent at RTOs, illegal channels like agents are also responsible for this. It is easy to procure a license without undergoing any assessment for a measly sum of Rs 3,000-4,000. This results in untrained drivers on the road. And a vehicle in the hands of untrained drivers is no less than a weapon. In fact, untrained drivers are one of the biggest threats to road safety. In 2017, a staggering 80 per cent of all road accidents were caused by those who possessed valid driving licenses.


Also read: Road accidents deadlier than natural disasters; will the Motor Vehicle Amendments Bill be a game changer?
INDIA NEEDS LICENSE KENDRAS...
In India, about 32,000 driving licenses are issued daily. Road safety advocates insist on license seva kendras on the lines of passport seva kendras to deal with the problem plaguing procurement of licenses. “We need same steps as were taken for Regional Passport Offices, which were replaced by passport seva kendras, ushering in a transparent system of issuing passports. The license kendras can operate in private public partnership (PPP) or by government alone,"adds Tewari.
...AND TOUGHER TESTS
Tougher tests would further ensure that only qualified drivers are on the road. Recently, Delhi introduced a first-of-a kind automated track test centre at Sarai Kale Khan. The track makes getting the permanent driving license difficult by stimulating tougher driving conditions.
An untrained driver is dangerous on the road. With over a lakh dying every year in road crashes, proper training and testing of a driver, and removal of agents from the system is must if we really want to control this growing epidemic.