Relevance: GS-3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Key Phrases: Road Safety, Zero road fatality, Traffic violations, Automations, Emergency Response Support System, Intelligent Traffic Management System

Background:

• Last year, while inaugurating a webinar organised on ‘Vehicle Crashes and Road Safety’, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari remarked that “the target is to reduce 50% of road accidents by 2025”, adding that “we can achieve zero deaths due to road accidents by 2030”.
• He said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had participated in a conference in Sweden in 2020 — the Third High Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030’ — where it was conceptualised to have zero road fatalities in India by 2030. Therefore, there was a need to expedite the task of saving lives in accidents.
• Though it is essential to remain focused in this approach and be optimistic while fixing targets, the past record of road accidents and available infrastructure to deal with road safety measures in India should not be lost sight of, particularly when the enforcement of motor vehicle related laws is primarily the responsibility of the States.

Status of Road Safety in India:

• India has signed the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011¬-2020 aimed at reducing fatalities in road accidents by 50% by the year 2020
• Statistics published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways show that the number of deaths in road accidents increased from 1,42,485 in 2011 to 1,51,113 in 2019.
• The fatality (that is a number of deaths per 100 accidents) which was 26.9 in 2001, continued to rise from 28.63 in 2011 to 37.54 in 2020.

Thus, it is evident that despite setting a target of a 50% reduction in accidental deaths, the fatalities from road accidents actually increased in the last decade.

Court interventions:

The Supreme Court of India while hearing a petition filed by Dr. S. Rajaseekaran, on road safety, passed an order to constitute a ‘Committee on Road Safety’ under the chairmanship of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan.
The Court on November 30, 2017, issued a number of directives with regard to road safety that, inter alia, included:

• The constitution of a State Road Safety Council, Establishment of lead agency,
• The setting up of road safety fund,
• Notification of a road safety action plan,
• The constitution of a district road safety committee,
• Engineering improvements, the identification and rectification of black spots, the adoption of traffic calming measures,
• Conducting road safety audits, the acquisition of road safety equipment, the establishment of trauma care centres and
• The inclusion of road safety education in the academic curriculum of schools.

Reasons for failures in enforcement of road safety:

• Lacking deterrence and strong laws: The Motor Vehicles (MV) Act of 1988 was partially amended in August 2019, and some of the amended and new sections which made traffic violations more stringent, but most States did not increase the corresponding compounding traffic violations fee.
  • This increase was criticised and people protested on the pretext that the (fine) paying capacity of the average Indian was still limited.
  • Also, only a few cases of traffic violations are contested by the accused in a court of law.
• Insufficient Manpower and capacity: The enforcement manpower that is available is insufficient to deal with the steadily increasing volume of traffic. The automation of processes is still in its infancy and limited to large cities.
• Limited financial support: Inadequate funds for the rectification of black spots and the undertaking of traffic calming measures. Though more than 60% road accidents reportedly take place because of over-speeding, ‘speed limit’ sign boards are rarely seen or found even on State highways and major roads.
• Unorganized sector and lack of awareness: Most drivers, conductors, and other staff in transport companies (except for government corporations) do not get benefits of the organised sector.
  • They draw a meagre salary, usually do not have a weekly off and are most often forced to work overtime. Therefore, unless their service conditions are improved, their attitude towards road safety cannot be expected to be above Board.
• Low driving skill: Even today, getting a driving licence is not a difficult task. There is no standard written and rigorous practical test. There are no institutes for refresher training if a driving licence of a person is suspended. Many States do not have test driving tracks.
  • There is a need to improve the driving skills of drivers and change the casual attitude of other road users towards road safety.
• Missing a focused approach on road safety: It has been observed that about two thirds of victims of road fatalities are two-wheeler drivers and pillion riders, but there is not enough emphasis being given to them.
• Lack of willpower to implement laws: For example, though the wearing of safety headgear is mandatory, it is not enforced strictly in all States due to a lack of strong will.
  • Even an amended provision that relates to ‘Offences by Juveniles’ is not enforced strictly.
• Lethargic approach by states on road safety: The Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), with its pan India emergency response number, 112, has proved very useful in saving the lives of accident victims in the golden hour, but this scheme has not been implemented evenly across States.

Suggestions:

• Use of technology: The number of ‘hit and run cases may decrease if the ‘Intelligent Traffic Management System’ is implemented on highways and other major roads.
• Increasing capacity based on requirement: The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has suggested a formula to calculate the number of traffic policemen required in any district. It is largely based on the number of registered motor vehicles in any district. Similar ideas were suggested for traffic equipment requirements also.
• Evidence based policy making: The recent iRAD (Integrated Road Accident Database) Project, an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, funded by the World Bank, and under implementation, is to enrich the accident database and improve road safety in the country by collecting data from different stakeholders using the iRAD mobile and web application.
• Strong Motor Laws and Traffic Control: For any city’s roads to be safe, there need to be strict laws against drunk and driving and efficient traffic management, especially during peak hours and in congested areas.
• Implementation of the Sundar Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management which recommended the creation of a safety board through legislation.

Conclusion:

• Lives cannot be lost at the cost of poor enforcement of traffic laws. However, unless the States and the Centre are on the same page in improving and strengthening the infrastructure of States by enabling more funds, merely and only fixing targets will not be a pragmatic approach to reduce road accident fatalities.

Sources: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. Discuss the reasons for increasing road accidents in India. What measures can be taken to put a stop on this. [250 words]