Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index | Video on TED.com

Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index | Video on TED.com

World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Injury Victims 2009 observed at Medical College Hospital Trivandrum

I.G. of Police Dr.B.Sandhya IPS lead a candle light vigil to mark the World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Injury victims 2009

Residents, Nurses, Security staff, attenders and common men, all participated in this brief candle light vigil

The day observed for the first time in the largest trauma care center in Kerala reflecting the institution's commitment to trauma care represented here by the Principal Dr. Ramdas Pisharody

         

Kerala can certainly claim the title of "road traffic accident capital of India" if not of the world! With only 3% of the vehicles registered in India running on our roads we contribute a staggering 12% of accidents reported from India. To a large extend this is rooted in the traffic culture that we have managed to develop which in turn stems from our culture itself!

Proneness to accidents happen on day one of a driver. Licensing is so superfluous that many continue to flaunt "L" boards after obtaining license acknowledging that they still have not acquired the skills required to be a licensed driver!Licensing authority is understaffed and ill equipped to handle the huge number of applicants. The influential get license without even attending a license test. The wealthy buy it off! And the one who actually goes through the testing procedure gets a very substandard test. No wonder our licensed drivers find it very difficult to obtain driving licenses abroad with out going through further driving skill improvement programs.

The structure and maintainance of the roads make it a killing field. Unpredictable potholes on the road that spring up all the time, makes the traffic flow zig-zag and turbulent. Since two way traffic separated only by a line in the middle is the norm, encroachment on to the opposite side of the road to avoid a pothole creates panic for the oncoming driver. Gradually the driver gets adapted to this uncivil traffic behavior of his colleague and even copies it; bringing down his sensitivity to enable him to drive through a scene which would have made an ordinary driver from civilized world to stop the vehicle in panic!

Sign boards on roads give information on what lies ahead or what the driver needs to do or should not do. But we are yet to provide a sign board for potholes that lie ahead. When one consider their numbers and impact on driving pattern we should have erected warning symbols for potholes much earlier as the public works department is unlikely to assume an efficiency  that  makes possible timely obliteration of potholes  in the near future.

While negotiating a sharp bend or a crossroad with hampered vision of oncoming vehicles only a minority of drivers blow their horns. This gives audio signals to any oncoming vehicle as to his presence. But virtually none of the oncoming drivers return the favor of announcing their presence back to the driver who honked. A strategically placed pothole on the bent road in such a situation can invite an accident.

A whole new subject of scenario analysis of accident sites awaits studies. Such studies obviously will never happen in the west. Unless we develop a culture of using our brains to solve our unique problems we can never find solutions to such issues.

Resistance to enforcement of helmet laws, virtually nonexistent enforcement of  laws related to drunken driving and violent behavior on road-negotiating with the nose of the vehicle and brow beating co-drivers as to who drives on in a round about instead of observing protocol.......the scene looks grim.

Since a significant proportion of this trauma epidemic is rooted in behavior, and culture, we at health prime thought of  observing World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Injury victims an effective way to invite the community's attention to this preventable epidemic.

Health Prime is a voluntary organization of doctors of Kerala who have an interest in extending their knowledge and expertise to solve public health related issues. We realize that limiting the domain of doctors' work to hospital wards is an incomplete effort as many of the problems that end up in the hospital with disease and disability have their roots in society and culture. The main focus for this year is social interventions aimed at primordial prevention of Trauma.

Incidentally the need or otherwise of "World AIDS day" is being debated here