There’s a killer on our streets. And it literally is, our streets. More than two deaths occur every minute, globally,and over 3,200 fatalities occur a day. Road- traffic-crashes remain the leading killers of children and youth between five and 29 years, says the latest World Health Organization report on road safety. This, despite road traffic deaths falling 5 per cent to 1.19 million, since 2010.
About 28 per cent of the global number of fatalities are from WHO’s South-East Asian region. Nine in 10 deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, it says, adding “fatalities in these countries are disproportionately higher when set against the number of vehicles and roads they have”. And pedestrians account for 23 per cent of the fatalities.
None of this sounds unfamiliar, especially in metro cities. Often, people are forced to walk dodging traffic, as pavements are missing or taken-over as parking or riding space by cars, bikes and anyone else who knows how to cock a snook at the law.
For instance, no one dares question cars parked in rows outside a political party office or hallowed buildings that house our respected elected representatives or revered judicial representatives. But, taxis are hustled or booked for parking, even on empty streets.
Roads offer a huge canvas to make a city beautiful. Pavements should be a place where you can walk your pet, for instance, with locally available plants and trees providing the healthy green cover that’s desperately needed to restore our lungs.
Roads need to be planned with green corridors — to be used only by ambulances and emergency services like fire and the police, not “VIPs”. Roads should have cycling lanes, first-aid and traffic-police kiosks, and safe resting places for people and pets. Really, it’s quite simple.
And with global motor-vehicle fleet projected to double by 2030, urban planners need to put in a lot more thought into making our streets people and environment-friendly.