ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENT ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS IN HILLY REGION

Abstract

The increasing number of road accident on National Highways, which constitute about 2% of the total road network accounts for 1/3rd of the total fatalities. On Indian roads, the traffic is heterogeneous in nature with a large percentage of slow moving vehicles, in absence of pedestrian facilities; the pedestrians are forced to use the carriageway. Lack of enforcement and disregard to the traffic rules further leads towards deteriorating scenario of road accidents. The road accidents cause 1% loss of the total GDP in addition to losses the society and individual suffer in terms of pain , human loss disability and mental agony. In hilly regions the road accident scenario is further gloomy due to various obvious reasons. Some of the reasons for accidents in hills are narrow roads, steep slope/gradient, hairpin bends, narrow and sharp curves, presence of valley/ river at one side of the road, poor visibility in winter, monsoon, landslides, width/type of shoulder, pavement surface, maintenance standard etc. It is always important to examine the influence of the road, the vehicle and the road user and their interaction which results in accidents. In hilly roads the same factor are responsible for accident so it is important to study them and to analyze how they interact. This interaction is always present, even when one factor appears to be pre-dominant. The various measures ensuring road safety including THREE E's i.e. Engineering, Enforcement and Education are to be studied at least to minimize if not possible to avoid the accident completely and reduce the severity of accidents. Comprehensive review of literature was carried out for the factors and interaction of these, responsible for accidents which are directly related to hill roads or can be useful in the study of accident on hill roads.