THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE
MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a) State-wise details of total number of road accidents and persons killed in road accidents on all roads including National Highways in India during 2013, 2014 and 2015 is annexed.
(b) Road accidents are caused due to the complex interaction of a number of factors. These include driver’s fault, mechanical defects in the vehicles, fault of pedestrians, bad road, bad weather, increase in vehicular population, increase in population, heterogeneous traffic etc. It may not be possible to pin point any one reason for road accidents.
(c) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways collects data on road accidents from all States/UTs in a format developed as per the Asia Pacific Road Accident Database (APRAD) project of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP). These data are analyzed and an annual publication titled “Road Accidents in India” is released every year by the Transport Research Wing of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The latest issue of the publication was released in May 2016. The report contains data on road accidents and related parameters, including factors causing road accidents, for all States/UTs.
(d) No, Madam. However a Group of Ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of Shri Yoonus Khan, Hon’ble Minister for Public Works Department and Transport, Government of Rajasthan has been constituted in pursuance of the decision taken in the 16th Meeting of National Road Safety Council held on 22.02.2016. The GoM is to examine best practices in road safety and road transport sector and to suggest actionable points for implementation. The Group of Ministers set up by the Ministry of RTH has been actively involved in addressing the issues relating to road safety and efficient transportation on Indian roads.
(e) A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Secretary (RT&H) on 2nd Sept., 2016 with the Principal Secretary (Transport) and ADG (Police), in-charge of road safety matters in the States. During the meeting, it was advised that the States should first and foremost address the institutional issues. The urgent need to formulate an action plan for improving road safety and to implement it in a concerted manner to achieve a targeted reduction in road crash injuries and fatality was stressed. It was emphasised that it is necessary to fix a definite, time bound target for fatality reduction and to identify and allocate adequate manpower, financial and other resources for implementing the strategy to achieve the targets set. It was also advised that the States could consider deploying policing/patrolling on accident prone stretches of highways to enforce safe use. In addition, States were advised to deploy static cameras for detecting and penalizing over-speeding vehicles.
(f) Under the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) bill, 2016 setting up of Motor Vehicle Accident Fund has been proposed to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in the territory of India.
(g) The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken a number of steps to prevent road accidents as per details mentioned under:
i. Motor vehicle Amendment Bill, 2016 has been introduced by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in the Parliament which addresses the pressing issues of road safety, improving public transportation and interface with transport Departments.
ii. The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws trauma care etc.
iii. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.
iv. 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.
v. 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. Based on this, a draft action plan has been shared with the states.
vi. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
vii. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has been taken up.
viii. 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.
ix. 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.
x. Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.
xi. Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media.
xii. Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, Power-steering, anti-lock braking system etc.
xiii. 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.
xiv. 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.
With a view to spread road safety awareness among the general public, the Government has been undertaking various publicity measures in the form of telecasting/broadcasting of T.V. spots/Radio jingles, display of cinema slides, hoardings, organizing Road Safety Week, seminars, exhibitions, all India essay competition on road safety, printing of handbills/stickers, posters, etc., containing road safety messages for various segments of road users viz. Pedestrians, cyclists, school children, heavy vehicle drivers, etc. , painting on road railings on themes of road safety, road safety games, calendars depicting road safety messages, etc. The Publicity campaign is carried out through DAVP, Doordarshan, All India Radio and newspapers. It is the ministry’s effort to make road safety a social movement.
Download PDF Files
