How cautious and compassionate are Indian drivers?

Car penetration in India is relatively low, at under 20 per 1,000 when compared with the US which has over 687 cars per 1,000 people. But rising income is making it easier for more Indians to buys cars. The difficult part is getting people to be responsible drivers.

According to the World Health Organization, about 1.2 million people across the world die in road accidents annually. About 90% of these happen in developing countries. In India, over 4.5 lakh accidents happen every year, causing 1.5 lakh deaths. The road mishaps can be avoided by improving behavioural patterns at three levels — of the drivers, pedestrians and co-passengers.

To understand how Indians behave on the roads, Ford Motors commissioned advisory firm Astrum to conduct a survey of car drivers in 10 cities — 6 metros and 4 non-metros. “It is not only just about following rules and the law. To make Indian roads safer, we must learn to be more cautious and compassionate on roads,” says Anurag Mehrotra, MD, Ford Motors India.


Here is a look at the findings of the survey that had framed questions focussing on three areas — compliance, compassion and caution.

Street View
Delhi, with the largest number of vehicles, displays the worst behaviour on roads, among six metros. Kolkata tops the list.

Note: % of respondents in a survey done by Astrum that covered 1,613 people in 10 cities with a million plus population each. About 48% of the respondents were private drivers and 52% were passengers and pedestrians. About 72% were men; 28% women; 41% were single. Of the 59% who were married, 9% had children.