1. Road accidents are a human tragedy, which involve a high degree of human suffering. The ramification of road accidents can be colossal and their negative impact is felt not only on individuals, their health and family welfare, but also on the economy of the country. They impose a huge socio-economic cost in terms of untimely deaths, injuries and loss of potential income. The World Health Organisation Global Status Report on Road Accidents, 2013 (in short WHO Report of 2013) estimates GDP loss due to road traffic accidents in our country to be 3 per cent which is higher than emerging and emerged economies like Russia (1.9), Mexico (1.7), Malaysia (1.6), Brazil (1.2), Turkey (1.1), Korea (1.1), New Zealand (0.02), United Kingdom (1.2), and United States (2.3).

2. Our country has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of road accidents. According to the latest report of Road Transport Ministry, 4,90,383 road accidents were reported in 2012 resulting in 1,38,258 deaths i.e. an average of one road accident every minute resulting in one death every 3.8 minutes which is highest in the world. According to the WHO Report of 2013, India counts for about 10 per cent of road crash fatalities, meaning thereby that more people die in road accidents in India than in any other country. The WHO Report of 2013 estimates road traffic death rate per 100,000 in India to be 18.9 as compared to 16.8 in the 2009 report. This rate is much higher than that of middle income countries such as Indonesia (17.7), Nepal (16), Burma (15), Sri Lanka (13.7), Bhutan (13.2) and Bangladesh (11.6). Approximately half of the victims of road accidents in India are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and passengers in buses & trucks). The WHO Report further suggests that pedestrians account for 8.7 per cent of road deaths in India. According to the data released by National Crime Records Bureau, deaths by motor accidents account for 35.2 per cent of the total deaths in accidents in year 2012.

3. Human life is precious. The road users have a fundamental right to life and liberty which includes the right to safety and immediate payment of compensation in the event of unavoidable accidents. It is the duty of the State to ensure safety on roads and to ensure due process of law for expeditious payment of compensation in the event of injury or death of the road users arising out of the use of motor vehicles on the roads.

4. In Rattan Singh v. State of Punjab, (1979) 4 SCC 719, Krishna Iyer J., made the following observation with respect to the chaotic conditions prevailing on Indian roads:-

“1...More people die of road accidents than by most diseases, so much so the Indian highways are among the top killers of the country….

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2...Parking of heavy vehicles on the wrong side, hurrying past traffic signals on the sly, neglecting to keep to the left of the road, driving vehicles criss-cross, riding scooters without helmets and with whole families on pillions, thoughtless cycling and pedestrian jay walking with lawless ease, suffocating jam-packing of stage carriages and hell-driving of mini-buses, overloading of trucks with perilous projections and, above all, policemen, if any, proving by helpless presence that law is dead in this milieu charged with melee – such is the daily, hourly scene of summons by Death to innocent persons who take to the roads, believing in the bona fides of the traffic laws...”

(Emphasis supplied)

5. The precious lives of innocent persons are snatched away by the reckless acts of the drivers in motor accidents, and the victims or the kith and kin of the deceased persons are forced to face the brink of darkness of life. The harrowing tales of the hapless victims in the motor accidents speak volumes of heart-rending sufferings and pessimism in their lives. Serious injuries often cause life-long disability for the victims which fundamentally affect quality of their life and that of their famili