Highways are the most used mediums of Logistics and transport in India. Indian Highways are well connected but woefully wanting in quality. This poses a lot of problems to truck drivers and transport in general. Another important fall-out of the quality of Indian roads is the safety risk they pose to human life and businesses. Global Status Report on Road Safety has reported that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world. The report calls road fatalities an "epidemic" that will become the world's fifth biggest killer by 2030.
Accidents and highways have been synonymous for a long time now. This has a lot to do with the nature of safety precautions that are in place for trucks and drivers. Enumerated below are some of the precautions that truck drivers and any other motorist on the highway should observe.
Speed: Speed is one of the most critical factors that lead to accidents. The speed limits on the highways and other roads have to be strictly adhered to. These limits are for the driver's good, because excess speed and one other mistake may result in a pile-up on the highway which may claim many fatalities.
Attention: The attention of the driver is the key to a safe trip on the highway. The driver should get a good night’s sleep and shouldn't let his attention waver throughout the journey. There should be two drivers in the truck. Double-shift can be very dangerous as you can imagine a heavy truck with a dozing driver will definitely cause mayhem on the highway. Make sure that the drivers are free from any intoxicants. Alcohol increases the probability of accidents occurring to a large degree.
Poor infrastructure: Bad infrastructure can also play a major role in causing accidents. Sub-standard roads, potholes, cracks and un-maintained roads increase the risk if an accident occurring. If the driver has to travel a badly maintained highway, he should pay attention to nature of the road always and drive as carefully as possible.
These are the problems that affect truck-drivers and fleet-owners and logistics companies from meeting their business targets. In the next article you will see how the infrastructure is actually improving and how in the coming years we will be at par with global standards.