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The handful of times I have had the privilege of witnessing a vehicle stop for me while I cross the road, I have initially been struck with relief and an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I find myself trying to thank the driver nonverbally via a thumbs-up or a smile after they pass, hoping my appreciation reaches them through their windshield.

It is just three months into the new year and already we have been confronted with a series of tragic road crashes.

170000. One hundred and seventy thousand. Each of these numbers has a name. A name that’s precious to a circle; to whom this person represented more than a statistic. This number represents the total number of lives lost on our roads in 2025, working out to 465 lives a day. Unfortunately, this number along with other data about why and how these crashes occur are not a part of our general perceptions about safety and risk assessments.

Speed gives us a sense of freedom. The open road, the wind in our faces, the vast blue sky overhead. Cars and bikes are often advertised as speed machines with little thought given to their safety features. Yet, apart from the ever present danger to life, this thrill has another cost that is often ignored. Speeding pollutes the air, damages ecosystems, endangers wildlife, and ultimately harms the very environment that makes these journeys enjoyable.

The Union Government budget of 2026-27 has allocated a whopping 3.09 Lakh crore rupees to the Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways (MoRTH), an increase of 7.9% compared to the 2.87 lakh Crores allocated in the 

அறிமுகம்

If you think that wearing masks was the mark of safety over the Covid years, think again of residents of metropolitan cities such as Delhi where wearing masks had already been the norm - a practice particularly essential over the winter months when air pollution levels were (are) shockingly high.

Every day, thousands of children in Chennai walk, cycle, or are dropped off on streets that were not designed with their safety in mind. While streets where schools are located are officially labelled as “school zones,” the ground reality is very different. Speeding vehicles, broken, encroached or no footpaths, unsafe crossings, and chaotic pick-up and drop-off practices expose children to serious road safety risks during their daily commute.

The other day I was watching a film called ‘Dude’ and no, this is not a movie review but I will say to watch it at your own peril. I was struck by a scene in which the hero and his friend are riding without helmets on a bike (mystifying because in earlier scenes they are shown wearing helmets) and are chased by a pack of dogs. While trying to avoid them, they both collide with a car, fly over the car and land on the road beyond.

Every time we step out, we take for granted that we’ll return home safely. But for many families, that simple expectation ends in heartbreak. In 2023, across India, 1,72,890 people lost their lives in road crashes. In Tamil Nadu, the number stood at 18,347. This translates to around 50 people dying a day on our roads.