What is the issue?
A sense of urgency on road safety is still to pervade the collective consciousness.
What is the present status?
- India signed the 2015 Brasilia Declaration committing to halve the number of deaths in road accidents by 2020.
- “Road Accidents in India - 2015”, released last year by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways shows that this will be a challenge.
- The total number of road accidents increased by 2.5% from 2014 to 2015.
- Number of people killed in such mishaps during the same period increased even more by 4.6%.
- There were approximately 1.5 lakh road related deaths in 2015 alone.
What measures could meet the objectives of Brasilia Declaration?
- Road safety agency - Presently, safety certification is done in-house by implementing agencies like NHAI.
- It gives rise to conflict of interests.
- So there is a need for a separate independent body in order to certify whether a new/upgraded highway meets all safety requirements.
- Drafting a Mission - A clear mission draft for road safety is required on the lines of the one prepared by the Kakodkar committee on Railways.
- Safe Drivers - There is no mandatory safety training before appearing for a driving test.
- Also, a substantial number of bogus licences exist.
- A foolproof mechanism to issue and renew “genuine” licences by the many driving schools in India needs to be devised.
- Newer Technology - The NHAI incorporated Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) on December 2012.
- Whilst electronic toll collection (ETC) is its major objective, the IHMCL can well be re-energised in its “ancillary projects” charter to focus on safety delivery through technology.
- Beginnings could be made with regional control centres, emergency call boxes, variable message signage and integration of FastTag, mobile messages and in-cab radio broadcasts.
- Raising Resources – While the government has announced a Rs 1-lakh crore “Rail safety fund”, road safety too needs such magnitude of resources.
- To meet this, a 25 paise out of the Rs.2 cess on every litre of petrol and diesel can be earmarked for a road safety fund.
- Updating codes - Safety related provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, the Indian Roads Congress manual for highway design, and the Road Safety Manual should all be refreshed and aligned.
- New legislations – Bills relating to vehicle safety and testing, registration, insurance, a Good Samaritan law are already under consideration.
- A Motor Vehicle Accident Fund for cashless compensation for treatment during the Golden Hour is also on the cards.
- The government should prioritise these and oversee their passing.
Source: Indian Express
