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Everyday many people are involved in road accidents. Some are killed. Many more are injured
or maimed. So it is important for us to learn to use the roads properly and safely. No sane
person would like to be involved in an accident.
As the roads are very busy nowadays, we should be very careful when crossing one. It is safer
to use a pedestrian crossing or an overhead bridge whenever one is available. Never cross a
road by dashing across it. That is inviting trouble. If there are no crossings, then we must look
carefully right and left and cross only when it is safe to do so.
Some of us take the bus to school. It is important that we do not try to get on or off a bus while
it is still moving. I tried to get on a moving bus once. It dragged me a short distance and nearly
ran over me. I was lucky to escape with only some scratches on my legs. Also we must not fool
around while in the bus. A suddenly lurch can send us knocking our heads against something
hard.
Using a bicycle can be dangerous too. We must pay attention on the road and never cycle too
far out to the middle of the road. We must obey all traffic rules. Also we must make sure our
bicycles are in good condition with working brakes, lights etc.
These are some things we can do to avoid accidents. However there is no guarantee that we
will never be involved in one. The important thing is to stay alert at all times while using the
roads. We must know what is happening around us. In that way we can take necessary action
to avoid danger whenever we see one. Road safety is very much up to how we use the roads.
Use them carefully and we may be able to use them for a long time. Use them carelessly and
we may never be able to use them again.
Every year more than 1.17 million people die in road crashes around the
world. The majority of these deaths, about 70 percent occur in developing
countries. Sixty-five percent of deaths involve pedestrians and 35 percent of
pedestrian deaths are children. Over 10 million are crippled or injured each
year. It has been estimated that at least 6 million more will die and 60 million
will be injured during the next 10 years in developing countries unless urgent
action is taken.
An estimate of the total national cost of road accidents will help government's
to realise the heavy economic losses being incurred annually as described
in the "gross output" method of accident costing and socio-economic aspects
of road accidents in developing countries. Governments must try to reduce
these losses by providing road safety improvements and should see
expenditure on road safety as an investment and not as a cost.
Data is the cornerstone of all road safety activity and is essential for the
diagnosis of the road crash problem and for monitoring road safety efforts. It
is important to identify what categories of road users are involved in crashes,
what manoeuvres and behaviour patterns lead to crashes and under what
conditions crashes occur, in order to focus on safety activities.
Road safety audit is the systematic checking of the safety aspects of new
highway and traffic management schemes, including modifications to existing
layouts. The main aim is to design out safety problems from the beginning
and to reduce future problems. Safety audits should be included during the
design, construction and maintenance phases of road projects. In many
developing countries safety devices are included in the designs, but are
simply not constructed on the ground. Frequently, road maintenance is limited
to fixing potholes and cleaning drainage facilities, without replacing missing
traffic signs, guard-rails, road markings and other safety features essential to
create a safe road network. The Institution of Highways and Transportation in
the UK produce Guidelines for the Safety Audit of Highways. More
information, including ordering details are available from The Institution of
Highways and Transportation.
The AA document "What goes wrong in highway design and how to put it
right: common criticisms and advice from safety auditors" includes useful
examples for pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist safety provision.
Teaching safety skills to children can provide lifelong benefits to society, but
should be seen as a long term intervention strategy. Experience in many
countries has shown that reliance on individuals or organisations visiting
schools to give talks on road safety are not effective on their own. Children
may remember the messages in the short term, but effective and sustainable
development of positive attitudes towards road safety are best achieved by
inclusion in the core curriculum, either as a compulsory subject in its own right
or as a cross-curricular theme.
Road user education and awareness raising is an important part of any road
safety strategy. To be effective such activity must be based on analysis of
data and should be designed and monitored in a systematic way to ensure
success.
With road user error contributing to the vast majority of road crashes, the
development of safe drivers, skilled in defensive driving techniques, should be
the primary objective of any road safety program. Driving examiners in
developing countries are rarely given special training and driving tests an
inadequate test of ability to drive safely in traffic on real roads.
Timely and proper treatment of road casualties is essential for reducing the
severity of injury to crash victims. Driver education on first aid procedures and
correct transportation of crash victims is important. A single emergency
telephone number (for example, "911" is used in USA) can facilitate the
simultaneous alerting of police, ambulance and other rescue services and
help to reduce response times (depending on the availability of road-side
telephones).