Governments Safety Initiatives

On the occasion of the Road Safety Week in January, Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways reiterated that the Ministry is committed to reduce the number of road accidents and the associated fatalities by 50 in the next few years. The Ministry has been working on all the 4 Es of road safety – Engineering, Enforcement, Education and Emergency Care – to meet this objective. He informed that the work of rectification of identified accident Black Spots was on in full swing. An amount of Rs 11,000Cr has been set aside for this purpose. He also called upon people to report to the Ministry any spot where there were very frequent road accidents, so that steps could be taken to rectify the engineering defects. The flyovers, underpasses, crash barriers, rumble strips, traffic signage etc were being put up in an appropriate manner to bring down road accidents.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill to be passed soon addresses road safety issues by providing for stiffer penalties, permitting electronic enforcement, improving fitness certification and licensing regime, statutory provisions for protection of good Samaritans and recognition of IT enabled enforcement systems. The Bill also recommends reforms in public transport like provisions for treatment of accident victims during golden hour.

The Ministry also launched two mobile apps – e-Challan and m-Parivahan . e-Challan is a comprehensive digital solution for transport enforcement and traffic police that is integratedwith Vaahan and Sarathi applications. It will provide several user-friendly features covering major functionalities of the traffic enforcement system and improved transparency by connecting all stakeholders through a common system and ensuring data integrity.

m-Parivahan is a citizen centric app that will facilitate access to various transport related services. The app provides for virtual driving license and registration certificate through back end connection to Transport National Register. If a vehicle number is entered into the app, it will give full details of the car and the owner including his DL and RC. Good Samaritans can report accidents by clicking pictures and reporting to traffic authorities in the states and to RTOs, with the option of hiding their identity if they so wish. They can also report traffic violations. The states will be asked to provide linkages to the 108 service for better response.

Taking the help of corporates

Keen on reducing the number of accidents on roads by half by 2019, Road Transport and Highways Ministry has decided to reach out to the corporate sector, seeking their help in inculcating a culture on road safety in society and take up road safety as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

Educating the masses and promotion of road safety awareness in all facets of road usage, drivers’ training, training of enforcement personnel and promoting awareness through print, audio and visual media all could be good media to utilise the CSR funds. The religious trusts will be asked to contribute towards creating awareness on road safety.