Exploratory Study for the Development of Road Safety Index on Indian Roads

Road Safety has always been a factor of great concern in India as well as across the world. Road Traffic Accidents have been consistently increasing, and to address this issue, the world's governments declared 2021 to 2030 as the 'Decade of Action' for Road Safety. This rise in accidents can be attributed to the increasing motorization escalation, increasing individual modes of transport, soaring speeds, drinking and driving, increasing transportation network patterns and inefficient enforcement, to name a few. If compendiously scrutinized, the losses due to road traffic incidences are wholly avoidable. A comprehensive study was thus conducted to identify the key aspects which can be attributed to road safety. The six key factors were identified, namely the design of roads, the design of vehicles, the role of the law enforcement agency, the part of the Indian judicial system, the function of the Indian medical system, and general public awareness for developing road safety index. Primary data collection among various population segments identified the relative importance of these factors. The weightage based on the importance of these factors was computed using the Logarithmic Goal Programming Model, and thus, the Road Safety Index was developed.