(a) the details of road accidents including persons injured/dead in these accidents in the country during last three years till date, State/Year-wise;
(b) the reasons for increasing accidents in the country;
(c) whether the Government has taken any measures to check the road accidents and if so, the details thereof;
(d) the steps taken by the Government to tackle the road accidents and the compensation paid by the Government; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE
MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI MANSUKH L. MANDAVIYA)
(a) As per information received from police department of all States/UTs total number of accidents and the total number of persons killed and injured in road accidents in the country during the last three calendar years i.e. 2015 to 2017 are given at below:-
Years Total Number of Road accidents Total Number of Persons killed Total Number of Persons Injured
2015 5,01,423 1,46,133 5,00,279
2016 4,80,652 1,50,785 4,94,624
2017 4,64,910 1,47,913 4,70,975
States/UTs-wise details of accidents and the total number of persons injured and killed in road accidents during the last three calendar years i.e. 2015 to 2017, are at Annexed-I to Annexed-III.
(b) The main reasons for increasing accidents are Use of Mobile Phone, Drunken driving/consumption of alcohol/ Drug, Overloaded Vehicle, Poor light condition, Jumping red light, Over Speeding, Overtaking, Neglect of civic bodies, Weather Condition, Fault of Driver, Driving on wrong side, Defect in Road Condition, Defect in Condition of Motor Vehicle, Fault of Cyclist, Fault of Pedestrian, in the country.
(c) Ministry collects data/information in the prescribed format from the Police Department of all State/UTs. They provide data/information to this Ministry in prescribed format on road accidents on all roads including National Highways from time to time.
(d) & (e) Ministry has taken following steps to prevent road accidents.
(i) Government has launched a mobile app for highway users i.e. “SukhadYatra 1033” which enables highways users to report potholes and other safety hazards on National Highways including accidents.
(ii) Rectification of identified Black spots.
(iii) Road Safety Audits are being carried out at all stages of development of the highway i.e. design / construction / operation stages.
(iv) Facilities such as Foot Over bridges & under passes are being provided wherever required, for safe crossing of pedestrians and other road users.
(v) Road Safety Week is observed every calendar year for spreading awareness about safer behaviour of road users on National Highways.
(vi) 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.
(vii) The Ministry has constituted Group of Ministers of State Transport Ministers to examine the best practices of Transport and suggest issues to improve road safety. Based on the recommendation of Group of Minister, the Ministry introduced Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2017 covering entire gamut of road safety.
(viii) 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.
(ix) Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
(x) 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.
(xi) Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.
(xii) Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media.
(xiii) Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, anti-lock braking system etc.
(xiv) High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national highways.
(xv) As a measure of supplementing the efforts of States / UTs for minimizing the accident potential at the identified locations / stretches through engineering improvement on state roads, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had taken a decision to sanction road safety works on state roads with an earmarked allocation of 10% of funds allocated to the state roads under Central Road Fund.
(xvi) Ministry has delegated powers to Regional Officers of MORTH for technical approval to the detailed estimates for rectification of identified Road Accident black spots for expediting the rectification process to ensure safety of road users.
(xvii) Ministry had issued guidelines vide O.M. dated 14.1.2016 for taking up of Road Safety Audits on National Highways either as part of EPC/BOT projects or as stand-alone Road Safety Audits.
(xviii) Guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for persons with disabilities have also been issued to all States / UTs.
(xix) A Certification Course for Road Safety Auditors has been commenced in Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and 42 Auditors are certified.
(xx) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has constituted a District Road Safety Committee in each district of the country to promote awareness amongst road users under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the district.
Chapter X and XI of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 deal with third-party insurance and payment of compensation incase of injury or death.