ROAD ACCIDENTS – What should be done?

A fortnight ago I wrote about my personal accident. The present article is on what should be done in case one of us is either a victim or a witness or even the driver of a vehicle involved in the accident. Many lives can be saved or disabilities minimised if correct action is taken promptly. Further, appropriate compensation or prosecution can also be made to the victims of the accident. 

Before I dwell upon this issue, let’s have a look at the Road accident statistics. 11% of accident-related deaths of the world take place in India. In 2018, 1,51,417 deaths were reported in road accidents which were more than the those dying in 2020 due to COVID19. India spent between 3-5% of its GDP as financial cost of accident/ deaths. Haryana, Telangana and Goa top the list of deaths/ million population. Death rate in such accidents have had a massive increase over the previous year in UP and Gujarat, yet these two states have slashed the heavy penalties of traffic violation fines imposed by Central government. 52% of the death victims were on two wheelers, while 37% were just pedestrians. 

So, what should be done in a road accident? Whatever our status- a bystander or the victim, if alive or the perpetrator (driver) the first thing is to ask for calm, peace and crowd avoidance. Thereafter, the following should be done: 

• Assess injured and if possible take out from the vehicle to a safe place. 
• Provide first aid. 
• Incase vehicle is on fire move to a safer place as it might explode. 
• Take photos/ videos as evidence. 
• Inform nearest police station. 
• Take injured to the nearest hospital. 
• Further action is by the Police and the Hospital authorities. 
• If a bystander becomes a good samaritan, he/ she has certain rights under the new law. Their identity may not be revealed. They would be suitably rewarded and their statement in court would be taken in a single hearing. If they are harassed, the offending policeman/ doctor would be punished. 

Legalities and Compensation. These can occur in three different scenarios.

1. Pure accidents, where no one is at fault and no death has taken place. The driver still needs to take the victim to the hospital incase of injury. Insurer has to pay compensation in case of injury under sec 163A. 
2. In Hit and run cases, where neither the driver or the vehicle is identified, the government pays to the injured. 
3. In cases of death or severe disabling injuries, the driver’s fault has to be proved and criminal case under section 304A of IPC is registered. The driver is responsible for the criminal intent and the vehicle owner (if vehicle was driven by someone else) for the compensation. 

Causes of road accidents are being discussed, albeit, briefly. 

1. Driver Causes – Overspeeding, drunken driving, lack of driving skills, not wearing seat belts (including those on rear seats) and helmet, jumping traffic lights, driving on the wrong side of the road or even just parking vehicles on the road are some of the major causes. 
2. Road Conditions – Potholed broken roads, lack of zebra crossings, pedestrian walking and two wheeler lanes, stray animals and children on the roads are some of the causes. On the contrary, it is my personal view that on roads, flyovers and highways which have newly been built or broadened, the tendency to overspeeding or vehicle racing or tired drivers dozing off have also led to major accidents. 
3. Vehicle Conditions – Faulty design of vehicle is a rare condition. Negligence in vehicle maintenance, aged vehicles, and overloading are the major causes for accidents. 

In the end, coming back to my Small accident, the bike rider was over speeding and he hit me on the wrong side of the road. I was not crossing the road at the zebra crossing. The road in its one kilometre length had no zebra crossing! And, this was in New Delhi. If I wanted, I could have registered a case under the Motor-vehicle Accident Tribunal, MACT within 6 months of the accident. The office is at Tees Hazari, a good one hour drive from my home. And after a couple of hearings, could have gotten Rs. 25000. And Delhi government would have paid for First aid I received at the private hospital. However, I didn’t pursue the case.

Did I do the right thing? Maybe not. If I had; the young, poor, joyrider and his whole family would have been harassed by the police. The family’s financial condition would have further deteriorated. And that wasn’t my intent at all. Or did I do what I did because I thought that the compensation procedure might take a long period of time and would partake repeated visits to the far-away MACT court. 

In hindsight, I think I was right because walking with crutches in CORONA times, in crowded places, at my age would have been a bad proposition. We did get the errant biker to foot the first-aid bill of the private hospital. Even though it was a small amount, but it will serve as a reminder to him each time he sits on the driver’s seat.

Maj Gen Krishan Chauhan is a second-generation army officer. He studied in Sainik School Kapurthala, graduated from IG Medical College, Shimla and did his MD from AFMC/Pune University. He has served in the Army Medical Corps for 36 years and retired as the Addl DGMS army. He is an avid marathon runner and a writer. He first wrote articles for children in The Young Chronicles. Later, he started writing his own blog as Genkris, on WordPress where over 25 articles on various subjects can be accessed.