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Speed and its Efects on Road Trac Crashes

By Prof. Dinesh Mohan

Paper Speed and its eects on road trac crashes has been written by Professor

Dinesh Mohan, Volvo hair Professor and oordinator, !ransport "esearch and #n$%ry

Prevention Pro&ra''e, #ndian #nstit%te of !echnolo&y, (ew Delhi. !his paper

hi&hli&hts the conse)%ences of drivin& vehicles at &reater speeds by re*ectin& the

views %sin& several evidences of st%dies by vario%s researchers held in vario%s

co%ntries for the lar&e n%'ber of crashes d%e to the hi&her speed of vehicles.

!he a%thor describes the paper in very obvio%s 'anner %sin& the res%lts of vario%s

st%dies, trials and ar&%'ents for presentin& the way speed is held responsible for

the fatalities in trac crashes. !he paper presents the way how the speed is 'ost

responsible for the involve'ent of a vehicle in crash. Paper also re*ects the vario%s

factors in relation to speed with their theoretical reasons and practical real life

e+periences which are necessary to loo after for avoidin& crashes and hence to

'aintain safety in the -eld of transportation.

!he paper shows the evol%tion of the res%lt in /01 after the p%blication of paper by

2S3 reportin& that speed is also a factor responsible for vehicle crashes which was

till then in early decades not considered as the i'portant ris factor. Speed is shown

lar&ely responsible for the accident involve'ents other than other factors lie a&e

of drivers, weather, desi&n errors in road, driver errors and visibility proble's d%rin&

ni&ht.

!his paper shows the facts and -&%res that how i'position of lower speed li'its in

vario%s co%ntries helped to red%ce the trac crashes and probability of accidents as

vehicle with hi&her speeds 'ore than the avera&e speed of all trac are 'ore

v%lnerable to accidents as the chances of crash vary on the dierential of vehicle

speed and avera&e speed of overall trac. !he o%tco'e of vario%s analysis showsthat the red%ction in avera&e speed of vehicles helps in red%cin& the probability of

trac crashes, severity of in$%ries s%ered by the %sers and the fatality rate.

!here are always so'e &ro%ps for opposin& the res%lts considerin& the personal

freedo' lie what 3'ericans responded to the hi&her speed li'its by co'parin&

alon& with the 'an ho%rs saved by travellin& at hi&her speeds and balancin& the

econo'ic bene-t of raisin& speed with the har'f%l conse)%ences of trac crashes

which so'eti'es res%lts in fatalities of the %sers. !here are also ar&%'ents

re&ardin& the speed li'it chan&e leadin& to 'ore e+pos%re on roads which sho%ld

be only i'portant for %nderstandin& the theoretical iss%es and '%st not be ar&%ed

for assessin& the %nfavorable p%blic health i'pacts and in$%ries or deaths.

4ne of the st%dy presented that avera&e speed red%ction of 56 red%ces the

e+pected no. of fatalities by 7.56 which is nearly fo%r ti'es the red%ction in

speed. 3lso there are ade)%ate evidences of presentin& that the factors which

red%ce speed lie desi&n in roads, or hi&her trac density speed red%ce the

e+pected fatalities.

#t has also been shown theoretically by a%thor that the hi&her initial speeds res%lts

in the lar&e brain& distance as the stoppin& distance of a vehicle is dependent on

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the reaction ti'e of driver which 'ay be 'ore or less dependin& on the driver8s

conditions and brain& distance which depends on s)%are of ori&inal velocity of the

vehicle which 'ay lead to collision and res%lts are co'pared for brain& distance

with hi&her and avera&e speeds of vehicle. 3lso d%rin& hi&her velocities, ener&y

transfer between the vehicle and the h%'an body is '%ch hi&her leadin& to

severity of conse)%ences of crash.

!he vario%s facts and -&%res concl%de to the fact that speed control can res%lt in

lar&e no. of savin&s in in$%ries and fatality rate on %rban and r%ral roads. 9%ropean

trac safety co%ncil has reco''ended 'a+i'%' li'it of 5: 'ph and ;: 'ph in

%rban roads and residential roads respectively. 3%thor has not presented any

s%&&estions by #ndian a&encies for drivin& on #ndian roads b%t however has

presented so'e s%&&estions of the speed for vario%s sit%ations accordin& to the

presence of bicyclists and pedestrians on roads.

!here are no evidences that driver ed%cation wors and red%ces road crash

involve'ent, and s%&&est that it 'ay lead to a 'odest b%t potentially i'portant

increase in the proportion of teena&ers involved in trac crashes and th%s roads

sho%ld be s%ch desi&ned that hi&her speed li'its are not achieved as speed li'its

cannot be enforced especially in r%ral areas where there is very low density of

trac. 9ven speed li'its cannot be enforced in %rban areas witho%t the dedicated

involve'ent of trac police. #nstallation of ca'eras on intersections with red li&hts

red%ces si&ni-cant no. of speed li'it violators b%t is a costlier option to enforce the

speed li'it and even red li&hts are not installed on 'ore than :6 of intersections

in any city across the co%ntry.

#nvention of new cars with hi&her speed li'its is also a 'a$or ca%se enco%ra&in& the

teena&ers to drive fast d%e to co'fort inside cars. Variation in desi&n of cars doesn8t

red%ce the trac crashes %nless the speed li'it in cars is red%ced. ar prod%cin&

co'panies sho%ld foc%s on the safety of road %sers also instead of only foc%sin& onearnin& pro-ts by prod%cin& 'ore and 'ore vehicles. Vario%s desi&n factors of road

lie lane width, ro%ndabo%ts etc help in red%cin& the speed of vehicles leadin& to

safety of bicyclists and pedestrians on #ndian roads. Safety policies and re&%latory

fra'ewors are necessary and very essential for the safe operations of

transportation to red%ce the blood spillin& on roads d%e to accidents.

#t has been a &ood atte'pt of a%thor to show the conse)%ences of drivin& at speed

which 'ay at least is nown to the readers of the paper that these are the statistics

for variation in speeds with the avera&e speed on road. 9d%catin& people to red%ce

crashes so'eti'es don8t wor as wide variations are fo%nd between people8s

nowled&e and the act%al behavior on road and so'e 'eas%res to be only taen by

the professionals in the -eld of safety to 'ae and i'pose laws to increase the levelof safety of road %sers and red%ce the in$%ries and fatalities on road.

#t is the responsibility of

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driver 'ay not feel easier to drive very fast which is the only way to red%ce speed

of trac witho%t co'pro'isin& with the )%ality of roads in the co%ntry.

!he