The Correlation of Climate and Road Safety
Climate change is a critical global concern today. The increase in various developmental activities, resulting in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has only increased its pace and impact.
While human activities and developed infrastructure altered the composition of atmospheric gases, they also helped develop countries. It continues to play a crucial role in today’s world. Transport is one such sector that accounts for a high percentage of contribution to greenhouse gases and global warming.
Over the years, the world has witnessed only an upward trend in vehicle ownership. They not only contribute to greenhouse gas emissions but also result in local air pollution, noise, and congestion.
Urbanization, connectivity, and daily commute requirements have made transport systems a necessity for regional success and progress. Thankfully, several corporations and automobile manufacturers are developing clean and fuel-efficient technology to reduce carbon and smog forming emissions.
To aid this process, more and more companies in the vehicle industry are now stressing on the need for clean, high quality energy to fuel these emission-controlled technologies. Hence, there has been an increased awareness around the connectedness between road safety and climate change. In fact, the latter has more direct impacts on mobility and transit systems than we realize.
While it is important to understand and reduce the transport sector’s contribution to the changing climatic conditions, it is also necessary to look at the other side of the lens- the impact of climate change on road infrastructure and mobility.
Extreme climate induced events often have an inverse relationship with developmental processes in the affected region.
Studies undertaken to examine correlation between road crashes and climate change affirm an increase in road fatalities and injuries with change in temperature, precipitation, storm surge patterns, and sea level. Increase in number of days of high temperature damages road infrastructure due to heat exposure and hinders transport service provision.
Moreover, researchers indicate that higher road accidents due to extreme temperature- higher or lower than the average experienced at any given place, can be explained by its possible physiological and psychological effect on the driver.
A positive and significant correlation has also been found between rainfall and road crashes. In some regions (particularly in the global North) it is attributed more to slippery roads, reduced visibility, and increased humidity fogs windows and wind-screens and reduces road surface friction.
Despite being one of the least explored or studied challenges to safer mobility, there is an urgent need to look into the inevitable and direct linkage between climate resilience and sustainable mobility. Young people across communities, administrative units, international organizations, and consultancies need to generate awareness and advocate for the need to mainstream climate change adaptation into urban strategies and transportation planning.
Article by Soumita Chakraborty
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