ROAD ACCIDENT

Road accident scenario in the country is a matter of great concern, as it has developed into a major social, economic and health problem. Accident cost includes medical expenses, gross loss of output in administrative and court expenses and also the cost of intangible consequences like pain, grief and sufferings. Rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles especially during the last two decades has been the major reason for the increasing number of road accidents. In our country several safety programme, developing vehicle technology and new Motor Vehicle Act etc are considered, planned and implemented to control the impacts of road transport injuries. This study attempts to find out the main causes of accidents occurring in Sulthan Bathery and suggest some remedial measures. The Sulthan Bathery Panhayath leads in certain social and health indicators like high literacy rate, 100 percent road connectivity to villages, better health care system, and high density of population distribution. But it is also leading the panchayath in terms of risk factors like high rate of road accidents and high injury rate due to road traffic crashes. On an average, 4,700 people die in the State every year in road accidents. Many more sustain debilitating injuries. People should make a serious effort to bring down the number of incidents. The first step in this direction is to obey traffic rules.Road accidents have earned India a dubious distinction. With over 130,000 deaths annually, the country has overtaken China and now has the worst road traffic accident rate worldwide. This has been revealed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety. The report pointed to speeding, drunk driving and low use of helmets, seat belts and child restraints in vehicles as the main contributing factors. Every hour, 40 people under the age of 25 die in road accidents around the globe. According to the WHO, this is the second most important cause of death for 5 to 29 year olds.