THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)
(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the house.
STATEMENT REFFERED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 22 ANSWERED ON 25.02.2016 ASKED BY SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV AND SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV REGARDING ACTION PLAN TO MINIMIZE THE ROAD ACCIDENTS.
(a) Around 5,00,000 road accidents occur every year with a loss of more than 1,30,000 lives in the country. States / Union Territory-wise details of the number of road accidents taken place in the country during the last three years is at annex.
(b) No, Madam.
(c) The factors responsible for road accidents are drivers’ fault, fault of drivers of other vehicles, defect in condition of motor vehicle, fault of pedestrian, weather conditions, etc. Also, faulty road engineering, lack of road information like signages, signals, road marking, inadequate planning for pedestrian crossings, underpasses are important reasons for the road accidents. Lack of capacity augmentation on national highways which constitute only 2% of the total road length in the country but carry 40% of total traffic, is also a reason.
Reducing road accidents fatalities by 50% by 2020 is the target set by the Government along with other member countries of the United Nations Organization. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken a number of steps to prevent such road accidents as per details mentioned under:
i. The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc.
ii. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.
iii. The Ministry has requested all States/UTs for setting up of State Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees, and to hold their meetings regularly.
iv. The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E’s viz. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care.
v. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
vi. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has been taken up.
vii. High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national highways. Around 700 such black spots have been identified for improvement.
viii. The threshold for four laning of national highway has been reduced from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs. About 52,000 Km of stretches of State Highways has been identified for conversion to national highways.
ix. Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.
x. Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media.
xi. Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, Power-steering, anti-lock braking system etc.
xii. Providing cranes and ambulances to various State Governments under the National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme for development on National Highways. National Highways Authority of India also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 Km. on each of its completed stretches of National Highways under its Operation & Maintenance contracts.
xiii. Launch of pilot projects for providing cashless treatment of road accident victims on Gurgaon – Jaipur, Vadodara – Mumbai stretch of National Highways No. 8 and Ranchi – Rargaon - Mahulia stretch of National Highway No. 33. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways intends to extend the implementation of cashless treatment of road accident victims on North – South Corridor, East – West Corridor and Golden Quadrilateral.
(d) The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for compensation to Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) or Civil Court, as the case may be, on the principle of fault/negligence of the driver of the vehicle causing the accident. In such cases, MACT or the Courts award compensation on the merits of each case. Setting up of these courts comes within the purview of the respective State Governments.
(e) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has drafted “The Road Transport and Safety Bill, ” to replace existing “Motor Vehicles Act, 1988” which inter alia proposes enhanced compensation through third party insurance and also envisages the creation of a “Crash Fund” for the purpose.
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