Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Reducing Deaths due to Traffic Accidents





As I write this on 24-March-2020, WHO has reported (Sitrep No 63 dated 23-March-2020) that the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases reported by Indian authorities was 415 and the total number of Covid-19 deaths was 7. In terms of numbers what matters is a third number: confirmed new cases reported in 24 hours prior to report-publication time. It was 132! It is the rate of increase that concerns the authorities. The Covid-19 threat is no doubt very real.
However, let us not forget other threats. India has approximately 150,000 deaths per year from traffic accidents. That is over 400 deaths per DAY! We should aim to reduce traffic deaths to half the current rate in three years. Do we have the political will to do that?

Srinivasan Ramani  

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