Road accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives and injure over 50 million people world-wide annually, said Dr Wasim Kausar Inspector General National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP). "Road accidents are the leading cause of death among young people aged 10-24 years and road safety should be included as a subject in the syllabus at nursery level to educate children," he added.
Addressing a Road Safety Walk at motorway toll plaza here on Monday, to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic victims, Kausar said that a road crash causes three shades of darkness namely trauma, disability and death. "We, today, have reached a state where our country has very high accidents rate and is among dangerous countries for driving," he said adding that road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, traumatic events, and their impact is long-lasting, often permanent. Dr Kausar said that due to road safety education by motorway police, accidents ratio has gone down to 70 percent on motorways and 65 percent on national highways.