What is the issue?
- The Supreme Court recently pronounced its verdict on a PIL regarding road safety.
- The order despised the apathy over enforcing road safety rules.
What are the court's earlier directions?
- The periodic directions of the Supreme Court have not produced any dramatic change in the official attitude.
- Even the setting up of the “Committee on Road Safety” by the court to help implement its recommendations hasn’t brought good results.
- Currently, in its order passed for a PIL, the court provided for actionable points with deadlines for implementation.
- Importantly, all states and union territories have been asked to announce a “Road Safety Action Plan” by March 2018.
- A “Road Safety Fund” in all states and UTs has also been mandated, the corpus for which would come from traffic fines collected.
What are the structural flaws?
- The absence of a scientific approach to accident investigation in India remains a major factor in fixing responsibility.
- Other than the failed attempt to create a “National Road Safety & Traffic Management Board”, no effort has been made in this regard.
- The current SC orders also provide a road map to States to form District Road Safety Committees under the District Collectors.
- This should ensure that someone is accountable when citizens file complaints on hazardous conditions.
What are the challenges?
- Around 1.5 lakh people died in accidents in 2016, which represents a 3.2% rise over the previous year.
- The most effective measure to keep roads safe is enforcement of rules with zero tolerance to violations.
- While stringent penalties are being called for, even the existing minor penalties are not being imposed.
- Also, road conditions remain hazardous due to poor engineering.
- Notably, only half of the accidental death victims had received insurance compensation.
- All these are proof of the indifference in the system, and there is hence a need to make the system more responsive and responsible.
Source: The Hindu
