Understanding Research: Evaluating the Problem of Road Safety of Road Users in India

This research project aims to evaluate the problem of road safety of road users in India. It explores the approaches drivers possess in terms of safety and aims to provide new knowledge to improve road safety measures. The research methodology includes quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The expected tangible output includes statistical analysis and the use of publications to confirm the results.

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 1
Understanding Research
Student’s name
Professor’s name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 2
Table of contents
Table of contents.........................................................................................................................................2
Evaluating the problem of road safety of road users in India......................................................................3
Background information..........................................................................................................................3
Statement of the problem.......................................................................................................................4
The main objective..................................................................................................................................4
Research Questions.................................................................................................................................5
To what extent the infrastructure proves effective in ensuring the safety of the public on the roads?
.............................................................................................................................................................5
What role does technology have on ensuring the safety of the people on the roads?.......................5
What approaches do the drivers possess in terms of safety?..............................................................5
Research Methodology............................................................................................................................6
Quantitative data collection....................................................................................................................6
Qualitative data collection.......................................................................................................................6
The expected tangible output.................................................................................................................7
New Knowledge.......................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9
Reflective statement.................................................................................................................................11

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 3
Evaluating the problem of road safety of road users in India
Background information
Road accidents are among the key issues in life of many people globally. There are a number of
measures put into place to monitor and minimize though they are not making any change. Each
day the road accidents are facing a new trend (Mohan, Tiwari & Mukherjee, 2016). According to
(Singh, 2017) the injuries linked to road accidents have an enormous effect among young adults
of 15-29 years accounts for about 1.25 million deaths of every year. Therefore, the roads
accounts for the highest percentage mortality for young individuals in India. The cost incurred
from the road accident injuries and deaths is 3% of the GDP in middle and low economic states.
Despite of these difficulties and economic loss resulting from road accidents, still there no proper
measures to reduce or eliminate the road accident problems.
We can not rule out that motorization have contribute a bigger portion in economic growth and
development in many countries including India. However, the increase of these accidents is
alarming and various measures of government and transport sectors should be checked (Bhalla,
Khurana, Bose, Navaratne, Tiwari & Mohan, 2017). Increase in number of vehicles call for
higher demand for proper measures in protection and road safety. In 2014, the number of
vehicles in India hiked by 16% which is very close to overall increase of vehicles globally. In the
same time there are no new measures or development put into place to control their safety on
roads.
Ensuring proper safety management in roads will benefit the decision makers, traffic and safety
policy makers. The management will be possible if the transport experts will reveal the cost of
injuries and other challenges due to poor safety management (Gururaj, Uthkarsh, Rao, Jayaram
& Panduranganath, 2016). This will be critical in showing the burden of road accidents to the

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 4
community to give the decision makers relevant insights to push their commitment in enhancing
safety on roads. Road accidents and safety management is a collective issue where the
government should also play a key part in enforcing the rules and regulations on public. This
should be done in both the developing and developed countries. The key issue in this case is the
economic loss and medical expenses which the families of the affected individuals have to bear.
According to (Esser,2016) the situation is very critical since the total number of individuals
dying through road accidents is increasing every day.
Statement of the problem
In order to make a significant improvement in road safety to reduce the deaths and injuries, there
is need for new techniques to road safety management which should be looked with clear
accountability and responsibilities. Various countries have made significant efforts in making
progress to mitigate the accidents and deaths as result of road accidents. In other countries, like
India, the situation is worsening every day (Goel, Jain & Tiwari, 2018). However, there are
attempts to contain the situation but different from opinions by the road safety decision makers
ends in a campaign with no impact. The campaigns are not effective, since people are ford of
mistakes which can not be rectified by employing road safety campaigns. That is the main reason
why this research project is meant to contribute in solving the road safety issues to ensure the
protection of the road users. This project will be guided by below main objective and as we try to
answer the following research questions.
The main objective
To examine the issue of road safety of road users in India.

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 5
Research Questions
What approaches do the drivers possess in terms of safety?
Majority of people in India and other part of the world use road as their main means of transport.
Therefore, the road needs to be designed in a manner that pedestrians and vehicles are not
affected in case of accidents or recklessness caused by some drivers (Rankavat & Tiwari, 2016).
Currently all roads in India have gained popularity due to risks and accident-prone incidences.
With regards to World Health Organization. (2015) the accidents from roads are as result of poor
infrastructures. The main reason for this is due to inadequate information regarding rules and
regulations put into place to govern the road users. Safety on roads is one of the critical act and
the users needs to change their perceptions with respect to road safety management. Some of the
drivers follow the traffic rules and regulation to avert the accidents. However, most drivers will
not follow all the rules and regulations concerning the safety driving on roads. For examples
many case have been reported where drivers cannot when they see pedestrian crossing the roads
and other tend to ignore the traffic lights (Rankavat & Tiwari, 2016).
Research Methodology
The research methodology will exploit more than one technique of collecting the data to enhance
the validation and confirmation of the data collected. Information will be gathered using both
qualitative and quantitative method as well administering a questionnaire to different traffic
stakeholders. Major informative group discussions and interviews shall as well be conducted.
According (Bresler & Stake, 2017) an investigator is required to properly arrange the instrument
of study.

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 6
Quantitative data collection
In this research, much of the information will focus on self-administered questionnaire. The
questionnaire is one of the instruments in research that can collect a large sample of information.
The benefits of using a questionnaire in this study is to allow an opportunity in establishing a
rapport, to explain to the respondents the objective of the research (Wiek & Lang, D. J. (2016).
The instrument gives the participants a privilege of expressing own opinions, suggestions and
views. The selected individuals will be noticed prior the study to avoid any inconveniences. The
participants will as well be assured the confidentiality of their identities so as to provide the right
information (Fletcher, 2017).
Qualitative data collection
The qualitative data will be gathered through interviews which will be conducted through face to
face technique (Wiek & Lang, D. J. (2016). In this research, the main procedures to select the
informants will depend on their deep knowledge of traffic rules and regulations in India. The
respondents within the sector of road safety management will be interviewed on problems related
to road safety awareness as a strategy to reduce the death and injuries linked to road accidents.
The informants include the pedestrians, the traffic officials, officials in ministry of roads and
transport, the heads of road technology department, drivers and constructors. Main informants
and some local leaders will as well be invited for group discussions. Each group will be handled
as separate entity.
The expected tangible output
The data collected will be cross-checked to ensure the competency, accuracy, and checking the
blank spaces and spelling mistakes. The quantitative data will the be analyzed though a computer
using the latest version of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). This will help in

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 7
obtaining the percentages and frequencies. Graphs and tables will be used in presenting the data.
Descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentage will be used in answering the research
questions. Qualitative information shall then be analyzed with regards to the topic and objective
of the research. Results from the qualitative method will be presented using tables (Goel, 2018).
Then various publications and other authenticated documents will be used to confirm the results
of this study.
New Knowledge
Road safety has been identified as the key issue in India. Understanding its origin will help in
changing and considering the identified factor when developing various traffic policies. The
communication authorities should make sure important issues such as obeying the traffic lights is
important. Secondly, the statistical data will be useful when formulating the policies and when
making decisions on the available options. Thirdly, adoption of the policies must involve both
the government and the policy makers and they will need to be legislated. Fourthly, for the
competent road safety management, government might need to mobilize the key actors within
the timeline to ensure the success of policy components. The technological models, legal
frameworks, and training is the key to proper implementation of the road safety measures.
Conclusion
The safety of roads is a big issue globally and is also key to the high rate of deaths in India. This
is as the result of failure by the government to establish proper infrastructures. The other road
safety management stakeholders have also failed in playing their duties in enforcing law and
order on roads. Secondly the issue of ignorance is as well contributing a higher percentage to
accidents especially the ignorance by the drivers and pedestrians in observing traffic rules. When

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 8
such issues are rectified then the number of deaths and injuries from road accidents can
significantly reduce.
References
Bhalla, K., Khurana, N., Bose, D., Navaratne, K. V., Tiwari, G., & Mohan, D. (2017). Official
government statistics of road traffic deaths in India under-represent pedestrians and
motorised two wheeler riders. Injury prevention, 23(1), 1-7.
Bresler, L., & Stake, R. E. (2017). Qualitative research methodology in music education. In
Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 113-128). Routledge.
Esser, M. B., Wadhwaniya, S., Gupta, S., Tetali, S., Gururaj, G., Stevens, K. A., & Hyder, A. A.
(2016). Characteristics associated with alcohol consumption among emergency

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 9
department patients presenting with road traffic injuries in Hyderabad, India. Injury,
47(1), 160-165.
Fletcher, A. J. (2017). Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets
method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 20(2), 181-194.
Goel, R. (2018). Modelling of road traffic fatalities in India. Accident Analysis & Prevention,
112, 105-115.
Goel, R., Jain, P., & Tiwari, G. (2018). Correlates of fatality risk of vulnerable road users in
Delhi. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 111, 86-93.
Gururaj, G., Uthkarsh, P. S., Rao, G. N., Jayaram, A. N., & Panduranganath, V. (2016). Burden,
pattern and outcomes of road traffic injuries in a rural district of India. International
journal of injury control and safety promotion, 23(1), 64-71.
Mohan, D., Tiwari, G., & Mukherjee, S. (2016). Urban traffic safety assessment: a case study of
six Indian cities. IATSS research, 39(2), 95-101.
Rankavat, S., & Tiwari, G. (2016). Pedestrians perceptions for utilization of pedestrian facilities–
Delhi, India. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 42, 495-
499.
Singh, S. K. (2017). Road traffic accidents in India: issues and challenges. Transportation
research procedia, 25, 4708-4719.
Wiek, A., & Lang, D. J. (2016). Transformational sustainability research methodology. In
Sustainability science (pp. 31-41). Springer, Dordrecht.
World Health Organization. (2015). Global status report on road safety 2015. World Health
Organization.

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 10
Reflective statement
The second assignment is all about developing the research proposal. During the study have
encountered a variety of resources which reflect on my research topic. These resources have
played a big role in developing my topic and helping to correct the previous errors. The platform
established for asking question and tutorials are as well making my research easy since I can be
able to get clarity whenever I find myself stuck. During the study, I found difficulties in coming
up with the final conclusion as different authors presented different views. However, the
challenge has really sharpened my skills in research. It will now become very easy in the future
research.

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH 11