In India, 11,168 kids below the age of 18 years get killed every year due to road accidents, which can be put as one kid in every 45 minutes, or 31 daily, official data revealed. It has also said that these accidents make up 7.40 per cent of all fatalities.
The revelation causing great concern over the safety of minors in the country was made on Thursday during a workshop on 'Making Roads Safer for Chidren' in Mumbai. Top officials and leading experts took part in the event including Synergie and Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP).
Moreover, only 22 per cent of the kids strap on their seat belts, while 53 per cent said their parents don't care if they violate traffic rules, as per the findings of a survey conducted by Synergie's Co-founder Saurabh Verma
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Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakne said that road discipline is missing in the country and it is the parents who have a key role in educating their children on road safety aspects.
"Schools do train students in the basics of road safety, but people still violate the rules. We need to do our best to reduce deaths on roads and create a conducive commuting environment for adults and children alike," urged Dhakne.
Dattatraya Saste, member of a high-level expert committee on road safety at the Centre, said that the safety of children is the collective responsibility of all the stakeholders.
"In the coming days, various tools will be developed in the fields of road safety, motor vehicles and road networks to tackle the safety issues, especially those pertaining to children," Saste said.
Verma stressed on the need to focus on the 4E approach -- Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Environment & Emergency care -- to tackle child road safety aspects.
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Advisor to Mumbai Traffic Police, Shankar Vishwanath, said that with increasing number of children walking or travelling longer distances to schools, colleges or playgrounds in Indian cities and villages, now is the time to start focussing on 'Child Safety While Commuting' to protect them and ensure the country's future.
