Road safety: Tech helps, but miles to go

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ latest report, Road accidents in 2022, shows there were 4,61,312 accidents resulting in 1,68,491 deaths. The report reveals a 9.6 per cent increase in fatal accidents compared to 2021, with 19 deaths every hour. It is shocking to note that the working age group of 18-60 accounted for 83.4 per cent of the total road accident deaths.

Almost 56 per cent of the accidents happened on highways and resulted in 60 per cent of the deaths in 2022. The road user category ‘Cars and Light Motor Vehicles (LMV)’ recorded 21,040 deaths. In addition, this category accounted for 24.5 per cent of the 32,825 pedestrians killed and 22.7 per cent of the 74,897 victims on two-wheelers.

How does India fare compared to the world? According to FICCI-EY’s ‘Road Safety in India’ report, the country is ranked first and accounts for 11 per cent of the total fatalities in road accidents globally.

Technology innovation aimed at reducing accidents in the automotive world has gained attention over the past few years. For example, ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) applications are being added to cars to reduce accidents. Features like driver drowsiness detection, gaze detection, surround view system, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking and lane keep assist are gaining popularity.

An upcoming technology called V2V (vehicle to vehicle) would allow vehicles to communicate with each other on the roads and is expected to revolutionise the automotive industry as this can greatly help in reducing accidents. Not just communication with other vehicles, the technology can be used to communicate with infrastructure, too. For instance, V2I (vehicle to infrastructure, like traffic signals), V2P (vehicle to pedestrian) and V2N (vehicle to cellular network). These technologies are generically called as V2X (vehicle to anything). The data exchanged would include critical information for avoiding accidents — speed of the vehicle, location and direction among others.  

There are several cases where the V2X, once implemented, can help curb accidents. For example, a driver on a highway can receive warnings/alerts about severe waterlogging or an accident that has occurred a few kilometres ahead. While the present ADAS features like emergency braking assist depend on sensors, the V2X system would alert drivers about impending situations several kilometres ahead. In fact, a recent report states that introducing V2X could prevent at least 6 lakh crashes a year in the USA.

A recent Reuters report states that the Indian government has plans to release a blueprint for V2X implementation in the country. This is a step in the right direction. However, in a heavily price-sensitive market, manufacturers will have the challenge of convincing customers to purchase cars equipped with advanced technologies. Here, some joint effort from the government and the automotive industry to increase awareness will be vital.

The report also indicates that the government plans to include V2X as part of NCAP (new car assessment programme) for safety ratings.

Europe, the USA and China have already recognised V2X as a key feature for crash avoidance and improving safety. In fact, the EU, the USA and China have created their own technology solution for V2X. The Indian government, too, should push for a ‘Make in India’ solution. This would mean creating a strong ecosystem with industry and academia for driving India’s own V2X systems. In fact, India could lead V2X by using satellite communication in addition to mobile networks, as satellites provide much network coverage to hard-to-reach locations.  

Implementing V2X involves multiple challenges including investment in infrastructure as well as addressing security concerns.  The benefits of V2X are too good to ignore but it will take a few years to become a reality. In the meantime, can we take a holistic and stringent driver’s licence and behaviour monitoring and enforcement system?

The Global Zutobi Index 2023 indicates the difficulty level to learn and drive globally. It considers driving age, theory and practical test requirements, and eye and medical tests, among others to compute the ‘Learn to Drive’ score. Obtaining a driving licence is the hardest in Croatia which has a score of 1.96/10. Brazil stands at number two (3.21/10). Australia mandates 125 hours of lessons before appearing for a test. Not surprisingly, India is among the easiest to get a licence.

The government must consider mandatory and periodic training for students in schools and colleges.

In addition, technology can be used to analyse driver behaviour and insurance premiums can be linked to the same. While insurance regulator IRDAI has suggested the ‘pay how you drive’ model, it has not gained popularity.

While we await V2X technology, can we take a holistic approach to improve driver behaviour and create responsible drivers in the country?

(The writer is an ICT professional)