The Serious Impact of Reckless Driving

Summary

The blog discusses the serious impact of reckless driving on road safety and identifies some of the major causes of road accidents, such as overspeeding, driving on the wrong side, distracted driving, drunk driving, signal violations, aggressive driving, and lack of driver training. 

The consequences of reckless driving include deaths, injuries, and damage to property. The article also highlights some safety tips and technologies like FleetOS to monitor and manage a driver’s behavior to prevent accidents on the road.

Roads network is considered a development-enabling factor and complicated in the economy, but road safety is a global development issue. Every year more than 1.35 million are killed, i.e., more than 3,000 die daily on roads globally. Across the world, 11% of accidents end with death on the roads. 

What are the causes of road accidents? Human factors; we know drivers face many problems on the road, but accidents that occur on the highways, are mainly due to the driver’s reckless driving behavior.

Road User Category report table

According to CRRI- Central Road Research Institute study on ‘Truck Transportation Safety Issues in India,’ 50% of truck accidents occur during the nights; more truck accidents happen during the summer than in the winter. More truck accidents occur near junctions and populated areas. 

WHO identifies the causes and effects of reckless driving. In logistics, mainly overspeeding and alcohol consumption are considered the major reason for reckless driving. 

  1. Driving on the wrong side
  2. Distracted driving
  3. Drunk driving
  4. Signal violations 
  5. Over speeding
  6. Switching between the lanes
  7. Aggrasive driving
  8. Lack of driver training
Road Accidents in different categories report

Out of 4.6 lacs accidents, 85% of accidents were because of man-made errors like overspeeding, alcoholic influences, driver fatigue, and driving on the wrong side.

These few factors are considered to be the reason for reckless driving. It is essential to identify and rectify the factors that contribute to road accidents. What are the consequences of reckless driving?

Impact of Reckless Driving Behavior

India’s road accident report for 2019 says the total number of 449,002 accidents leading to 151,113 deaths and 451,361 injuries. Also, accident-related deaths decreased by 0.20 % in the year 2019 compared with the previous year. 

road accident reports 2015 to 2019

Over Speeding

Speeding admits many fatal accidents and is considered to be the significant important cause of road accidents. Overspeeding contributes to one-third of accidents. Researchers also revealed that bumpers on the road could avoid overspeeding. Strategies like installing cameras, installing GPS devices, calming traffic measures, and a regular awareness or driver training program can prevent speeding and accidents on the road. 

Driving on the Wrong Side/Switching Between Lanes

Driving on the wrong side and switching between lanes are also considered the second most important cause of major fatal accidents. Wrong-side driving on roads required 9,200 lives in the2019. 

Alcohol Consumption

The alcohol content in the blood leads to vulnerability. 0.04g/dL of alcohol in the blood reduces our decision-making process. In India, the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit is 30mg alcohol in 100ml of blood. The American Medical Association says that a person can become weakened when the alcohol level hits 0.05% in blood. 

In most states and cities, the government strictly banned drunk & driving, and penalties for offenders also remand from 6 months to 4 years. Different penalties are assessed depending on the blood alcohol content. In India, 5,122 accidents were occurred in 2019 on roads due to alcohol and drug consumption.  

Drunken driving/ alcohol consumption, drug consumption, signal violation, and distracted driving like mobile phones are estimated as 6.0% share of total accidents and 8.0% of total deaths.

The other causes like road infrastructure, vehicle condition, Aggressive driving like overtaking, rash driving, race driving on public roads, etc., are accounted for almost 17-18% of the accidents, accident-related deaths, and injuries. 

A study made in parts of the US shows that women truck drivers are more careful than male truck drivers. The study says the following variation between male and female truck drivers.

Why are Male Truck Drivers Considered a Bit Risky?

  1. 88% risk of receiving a reckless driving conviction compared with female counterparts.
  2. They have a 78% risk of receiving seat belt violations.
  3. They have a 73% risk of receiving traffic signal violations.
  4. They have a 70% risk of receiving speed violations. 

Women truck drivers are most welcome in the fleet industries in recent days. Here are some safety tips for your drivers to avoid accidents on the road.  

In India, only a handful of women are into public transportation, though there is a good volume of women working in the taxi and other transport services.

We believe you find this article enlightening about the impact of reckless driving behavior. 

Managing a driver’s behavior makes many changes. Is it possible to monitor a driver who is far away? Yes! You can monitor your driver driving behavior with FleetOS. 

FleetOS brings changes to many lives and stops rolling onto death on roads. Manage your driver’s driving behavior; say no to accidents! Say no to ends! Save your brand with FleetOS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Newsletter subscription

Join our community to get the latest updates and special offers directly to your inbox.

GPS Live Demo
Fuel Live Demo
FleetOS Live Demo