Road Traffic Crashes in Up’s Metropolitan Cities: A Public Health Scourge

Abstract

Fatalities and injuries on account of road traffic crashes are a public health scourge of rising concern in the metropolitan cities of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India. While in many Indian cities, including Delhi, the situation is generally improving, UP’s cities face a deteriorating situation. Currently, road traffic accidents on UP’s city roads claim 29% more lives, in comparison to the past decade. Hence, there is an urgent need to take cognizance of this increasingly alarming problem and take requisite measures to arrest this situation. Particular interventions like legislation enforcements for controlling vehicle speed, use of seatbelts, helmets, design of safer roads, construction of separate paths for two-wheelers and segregated green modes for bicycles and pedestrians, promotion of public transport, and setting up of emergency trauma care networks have immense potential to decrease the prevalence and impact of road traffic crashes in the metropolitan cities of UP.