Insufficient road infrastructure causes high death rates among road users, especially pedestrians. Bengaluru loses hundreds of people to road accidents every year . Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) data indicates that, between 2017 and 2020, pedestrians made up 37% of the deaths from road crashes.
Healthy pedestrians manage to navigate roads without losing limb or life, but more vulnerable users like children, older adults, individuals with disabilities, labourers carrying heavy loads, and women – especially pregnant women – face significantly higher amounts of risk, and are more exposed to road crashes and injuries. Data from BTP and NCRB indicates that, in Bengaluru, a third of pedestrian deaths is that of senior citizens. Additionally, out of all children killed in traffic incidents, 51% are pedestrians.
There is an urgent need to make Bengaluru’s streets safe for all and reverse the culture of car-first infrastructure, and put pedestrians and cyclists at the centre of development plans to decrease traffic fatalities among other things.
Demands to make Bengaluru’s streets safe:
Conduct a comprehensive, equitable assessment of the city’s footpath network to identify high-casualty locations. Then address the primary cause of the casualties and the critical issues with the network.
Further the safety assessments of vulnerable road users. Integrate safe and adequate accommodation of all users in all new and existing programmes concerning surface transportation networks.
Align city/transportation budgets towards designing safe and comfortable infrastructure for all users, not just cars.
With respect to road infrastructure, ensure coordination and ownership among various government agencies at every step, in processes such as planning and policy making, community engagement, evaluating system impacts, setting design standards, identifying partnerships and funding sources, contracting and implementation, monitoring and enforcement, and regular maintenance.
Regularly engage the public and stakeholders to enhance awareness around road safety. Share findings to change citizens’ perception around safety, especially that of vulnerable road users. Informed engagement ensures that city projects are in line with user expectations, and users are in turn aware of upcoming changes in their neighbourhoods. This process also enhances transparency between government authorities and citizens.
Monitor the dynamic environment and people of Bengaluru to update plans and policies at regular intervals, to keep implementation of initiatives relevant and beneficial.
Sign the petition to demand #SafeStreetsForBengaluru
Sources:
Bengaluru's deadly footpaths: Children, elderly at high risk
Insufficient road infrastructure causes high death rates among road users, especially pedestrians. Bengaluru loses hundreds of people to road accidents every year . Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) data indicates that, between 2017 and 2020, pedestrians made up 37% of the deaths from road crashes.
Healthy pedestrians manage to navigate roads without losing limb or life, but more vulnerable users like children, older adults, individuals with disabilities, labourers carrying heavy loads, and women – especially pregnant women – face significantly higher amounts of risk, and are more exposed to road crashes and injuries. Data from BTP and NCRB indicates that, in Bengaluru, a third of pedestrian deaths is that of senior citizens. Additionally, out of all children killed in traffic incidents, 51% are pedestrians.
There is an urgent need to make Bengaluru’s streets safe for all and reverse the culture of car-first infrastructure, and put pedestrians and cyclists at the centre of development plans to decrease traffic fatalities among other things.
Demands to make Bengaluru’s streets safe:
Conduct a comprehensive, equitable assessment of the city’s footpath network to identify high-casualty locations. Then address the primary cause of the casualties and the critical issues with the network.
Further the safety assessments of vulnerable road users. Integrate safe and adequate accommodation of all users in all new and existing programmes concerning surface transportation networks.
Align city/transportation budgets towards designing safe and comfortable infrastructure for all users, not just cars.
With respect to road infrastructure, ensure coordination and ownership among various government agencies at every step, in processes such as planning and policy making, community engagement, evaluating system impacts, setting design standards, identifying partnerships and funding sources, contracting and implementation, monitoring and enforcement, and regular maintenance.
Regularly engage the public and stakeholders to enhance awareness around road safety. Share findings to change citizens’ perception around safety, especially that of vulnerable road users. Informed engagement ensures that city projects are in line with user expectations, and users are in turn aware of upcoming changes in their neighbourhoods. This process also enhances transparency between government authorities and citizens.
Monitor the dynamic environment and people of Bengaluru to update plans and policies at regular intervals, to keep implementation of initiatives relevant and beneficial.
Sign the petition to demand #SafeStreetsForBengaluru
Sources:
Bengaluru's deadly footpaths: Children, elderly at high risk
Thank you for raising your voice and demanding safe streets for Bengaluru.
This will only happen if we make ourselves heard and that's why it's important that more people join the cause.
Can you help spread the word about this campaign by sharing it with your friends and family?
Thanks for being an active citizen,
The Jhatkaa.org team.
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