How can any realistic evaluation or revamp of laws happen with evaluation of statistics? Since Tamil Nadu did not have a robust databank on road accidents, in 2007, the government undertook a major initiative to compile it.
An inter-departmental team comprising officials from the police, transport and highways authority was formed to collect accurate data on road tragedies. The team was expected to visit every fatal accident spot within 24 hours of the incident and take a holistic view of the situation. The idea was identify the actual cause of the accident look at possible remedial measures.
Unfortunately, the inter-departmental team exists only on paper as it hardly visits accident spots even in cases where fatalities are involved. Most officials, in fact, are unaware of the mechanism.
“In cases of very serious accidents such as the ones that involve school buses, our officials visit the spot and send a report to the headquarters. But going to the accident spot along with officials of two other departments is impractical as allocating time for it will be difficult. Even if our officials are free, personnel from other departments may not be,” says a regional transport official.
Road safety activists say that failure to implement the inter-departmental mechanism has led to similar accidents on same stretches.
For example, in the last two months, the GST Road in Kancheepuram district witnessed at least three accidents in which TNSTC buses and other vehicles rammed into lorries parked on the roadside.
Another government initiative suffering from inaction is the Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS), a centralised software in which accident details ought to be entered by the police for future analysis. This mechanism too requires a police personnel to visit the accident spot, which is seldom done by Traffic Investigation Wing officers.
The information that ends up in the RADMS software is the one provided in the FIRs. The entire purpose of the exercise is defeated as FIRs of accidents are lodged with a view to claim compensation either from the person at fault or from the insurance companies.
The complaints usually don’t mention if the person responsible for the accident was drunk, as it would make the victim ineligible for insurance claim.
“The police and victims think they can get the compensation faster if they enter details that appear to show that no driver broke the rules. Sometimes, when a vehicle involved in the accident has no insurance cover, the police compel drivers of the other vehicle that has insurance cover to plead guilty. Apart from causing wrongful loss to the insurance companies, this also leads to wrong information being entered in the records,” says advocate Gopalakrishnan, counsel for a leading motor vehicle insurance company.