What is India doing to reduce the worrying rate of road accidents

Citizens . (Image: Reuters)

The untimely demise of former chairperson of Tata Sons and scion of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group Cyrus Mistry in a road accident has yet again brought to the fore the issue of road safety in India.

To put things in perspective, around 18 people are killed in road crashes in India on an average every hour. This is based on data from the National Crime Records Bureau which was released recently and revealed that a staggering 1.55 lakh people were killed in road crashes across India in 2021. What is alarming is that the number of people injured in road accidents is even higher at 3.71 lakh in 4.03 lakh incidents.

India has set a target to reduce road accident deaths by 50 per cent by 2024. While the intent is clear, the goal is ambitious despite Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari repeated statements on zero tolerance for road accidents.

The goal needs a multi-pronged approach that will need coordination and execution from various agencies towards reducing accidents and increasing road safety. Saving life is a priority but the economic loss due to these accidents make for a stronger case for a stricter and comprehensive plan towards it.

The European Union has set in place a road safety policy framework with the long-term strategic goal to get close to zero deaths and zero serious injuries on EU roads by 2050 (Vision Zero), and a medium-term goal to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030. The EU experience shows that the road safety goals need to be backed by a coordinated, well-planned, systematic and well-financed road safety approach– both at a national as well as local level.

What has India done so far?

In the last three years, the central government has stepped up in its efforts to improve road safety standards in India.
The central government first started working towards improving road safety in India by making amendments in the existing Motor Vehicles Act in 2019.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed in July 2019, proposed a huge increase in various penalties for traffic violations, recall of defective vehicle parts by automobile companies, holding builders accountable for poor quality of infrastructure and making vehicle owners criminally liable for violations committed by juvenile drivers.

The National Highway Authority of India along with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India then came out with detailed guidelines for taking up road safety audits on National Highways in December 2020.

Under the guidelines, the NHAI increased the frequency of road safety audits from one-every half year to one-every quarter.

The NHAI then came out with a new policy in February 2021 to fine firms or personnel working at firms up to Rs 10 crore.

Under the policy, the NHAI also said that it would debar firms or personnel for up to three years in case the concessionaires, contractors, or consultants are found to have played a part in the lapses in construction standards of bridges, structures, or approaches to structure, etc.

Over the last few years, the NHAI has dealt harsher punishments than ever before, a senior NHAI official said.

The highway regulator has also started employing drones to carry out surveys of road projects. Survey footage from drones is then matched with an on-ground survey and any discrepancy is punishable.

In September 2021, the central government also set up the National Road Safety Board (NRSB) to function as the lead agency to deal with matters relating to road safety.

The NRSB functions to integrate efforts in collaboration with states to reduce road crashes and improve all aspects of safety in India.
Simultaneously, the government rolled out the Rs 7,270 crore State Support Programme for Strengthening Road Safety.

The six-year program will be implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha, Haryana, and Assam that are contributing to 85 percent of the total road fatalities in the country.

What more can be done?

Despite the steps taken by multiple state governments and the central government to improve road safety standards in India, a lot still needs to be done in the country.

Stringent enforcement of road safety rules is key in improving road safety standards in India.

Even in the case of the death of Cyrus Mistry, prima facie reports suggest Mistry and Jehangir Pandole were both seated unbelted in the rear of the car.

However, according to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, even people seated in the front-facing rear seats of vehicles are required to wear a seatbelt, which is the norm in many international countries.

Union Road Transport, Highways Nitin Gadkari has in the past also blamed low-quality construction material for the collapse of bridges and roads across the country.

"Recently, a bridge collapsed in Bihar's Bhagalpur district. When I asked my secretary about that incident, he, on the basis of the report, said the bridge collapsed due to wind and fog," Gadkari had said in May.

"Would you believe in the theory of wind and fog? You are an IAS officer. How could a bridge collapse due to wind and fog? There must be some other reasons. The construction material used in the bridge must be sub-standard. Hence, it had collapsed," he added.

The government and the NHAI are also working on a standard to create all-weather roads as part of future contracts.

"We are already working on a standard operating procedure for strict adherence to quality standards by contractors, developers, and engineers in the construction of roads and highways across the country. The new standards will be based on studies done in tropical countries to come up with all-weather roads of world-class quality," a senior NHAI official said.

The central government is working also with state governments across India to install all traffic lights in the country with speed cameras and red light violation sensors, a senior government official said.

"Camera and red light violation sensors will be a major step in improving road safety across the country. The estimated timeline to cover all major cities in India with traffic cams is by 2025," the official said.

The central government will also review fines for violating road safety guidelines in 2023 and may implement even stricter norms to improve safety standards.

The government is also looking to come out with norms for brake safety and tire wear and tear regulations for vehicles as well, the official added.

The NHAI is also working with five local institutions and three international institutions to develop traffic management systems that can be monitored without on-field police officers.

Furthermore, the road authority is working on road geometrics to eliminate as many black spots in India in the next three years.