ROAD SAFETY POLICIES IN INDIA –
IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES
Dr. Renu Sharma
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantt
Ms. Kavleen Bharej
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantt
Abstract
Based on the recommendations of Sunder Committee, the Union Cabinet
th
approved National Road Safety Policy on 15 March 2010. The National
Road Safety Policy specifies the guidelines for initiatives to be taken and
SOPs to be designed and drafted by the Government at all levels to improve
the road safety activities in the country. The Government of India further
recognizes that as road accidents involve roads, motor vehicles and human
beings, road safety needs to be addressed in a holistic manner. It also
recognizes that regardless of jurisdiction, the Central and State Governments
have a joint responsibility in reducing the incidents of road accidents,
injuries and fatalities. The study is a literary one and is based on the
secondary data referred from various Government Websites, journals,
magazines, and newspapers, etc. This paper is an attempt to broadly examine
and analyse the status of Safety Policies in India and the challenges being
faced in their implementation.
Introduction
In today's world, road and transport have become an integral part of life.
Everybody is a road user in one way or the other. The present transport
system has cut short the distances but has increased the risk to life. Every
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year road crashes result in the loss of thousands of lives and serious injuries
to lacs of people.
In India itself about eighty thousand people are killed in road crashes every
year which is thirteen percent of the total fatalities all over the world. Man
behind the wheel plays an important role in most of the crashes. The crashes
mostly occur either due to carelessness or due to lack of awareness about
road safety. Hence, road safety education is as important as any other basic
skills of survival.
A Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of S. Sundar, Former
Secretary (MoST) in 2005 to make recommendations on creation of a
dedicated body on road safety and traffic management. The Committee was
also assigned the responsibility to draft National Road Safety Policy. The
Committee in its report submitted in February, 2007 recommended a draft
National Road Safety Policy. Based on the recommendations this
th
Committee, the Union Cabinet, on 15 March 2010, approved National Road
Safety Policy. The National Road Safety Policy outlines the policy initiatives
at all levels to improve the road safety activities in the country.
Objectives
· To identify the road safety policies and statements in India.
· To identify the challenges in implementing those policies.
· To suggest how to improve the implementation of policies.
Preamble of the Road Safety Policy
· The Government of India is deeply concerned about the rising
number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities in recent years. It
recognizes that road accidents have now become a major public
safety issue, and the victims are mainly the poor and vulnerable
road users.
· The Government of India further recognizes the need to address
road safety on a holistic basis that as road accidents involve roads,
motor vehicles and also the human beings. It also recognizes that
regardless of jurisdictions, the Central and State Governments have
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a joint responsibility in reducing the incidence of road accidents,
injuries and fatalities.
· In the light of this, the Government of India, through this National
Road Safety Policy, states its commitment to reduce significantly the
rate of mortality and morbidity resulting out of road accidents.
Road Safety Policy Statements
In order to achieve a significant improvement in road safety, the Government
of India is committed to:
Making people Aware about Road Safety Issues
The Government would increase its efforts to promote awareness about the
various aspects of road safety, the social and economic implications of road
accidents and what needs to be done to curb the rising menace of road
accidents. This would enable and empower the different stakeholders to play
a meaningful role in promoting road safety.
Digitization of Road Safety Information
The Government will provide assistance to local bodies, Union Territories
and States to improve the quality of crash investigation and of data
collection, transmission and analysis. A National Road Safety Information
System will be designed and implemented to provide data supported policy
guidelines for road safety activities.
Providing Safer Road Infrastructure
The Government will study standards for safety while designing rural and
urban roads and will implement international best practices keeping in view
Indian traffic conditions. The GOI will continue with Intelligent Transport
Systems (ITS) under a national framework to ensure a safe and efficient
transport system.
Designing Safer Vehicles for Enhanced Road Safety
The Government will intervene to ensure that safety features are built in at
the stage of design, manufacture, usage, operation and maintenance of
vehicles as per the international standards and practices in order to minimize
road crashes.
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Improving Licensing and Training for Safer Drivers
The Government will strengthen the system of driver licensing and training
to improve the competence and capability of drivers.
Enhancing Safety for Road Users
The design and construction of all roads will consider needs of non-
motorized transport, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. The
Government will ensure implementing 'best practices' in this regard by
laying down standards for town planners, architects, and highway and traffic
authorities.
Promoting Education and Training for Road Safety
Road safety knowledge and awareness will be imparted to people through
education, training and awareness campaigns. Road safety education will
also be provided to school children and college going students. Different
road safety publicity campaigns will be organized to propagate good road
safety practices among the community. The Government will make it
compulsory for all the authorities associated with road design and
construction, traffic management and law enforcement to abide by the road
safety policies and norms.
Enforcing of Safety Laws Strictly
The Government will take appropriate measures to support all state and
other governments to improve the quality of enforcement in order to ensure
effective and uniform implementation of safety laws. The Government will
actively strengthen highway Patrolling on National and State Highways in
cooperation and coordination with State Governments and Union Territories.
Improving Emergency Medical Services for Road Accidents
The Government will strive to ensure speedy and effective trauma care and
management including the provision of rescue operation, first aid at the site
of accident and the transportation of the victims from accident site to nearby
hospital. The hospitals on the National and State Highways would be
sufficiently equipped to provide for trauma care and rehabilitation.
Supporting Research for Road Safety
The Government will encourage research on road safety by funding research
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in identified priority areas adequately and also by establishing centres for
research in academic institutions. The Government will facilitate spreading
of the results of research and identified good practices through publication,
training, conferences, workshops and websites.
Strengthening Legal, Institutional and Financial Environment for Road
Safety
The Government will introduce required measures to further strengthen the
much needed legal, institutional and financial environment for road safety.
The reforms in these areas would provide for the active and increased
participation of the community, private sector, academia and NGOs.
Improving Implementation Strategy
The Government will establish a dedicated agency like National Road Safety
Board to handle the issues related to road safety and will devise effective
strategies for implementation of the Road Safety Policy. The Government
has also decided to establish a National Road Safety Fund (NRSF) to finance
road activities. A certain percentage of the cess on gasoline and diesel will
be allocated to fund NRSF.
Institutional Setup and Initiatives by Ministry of Road Transport &
Highways Institutional Set up
GOI constituted the National Road Safety Council - the apex body to take
policy decisions in matters of road safety. The Ministry has requested all
States and UTs to set up State Road Safety Councils and District Road
Safety Committees and hold their meetings regularly.
Road Safety Initiatives by Ministry
On basis of National Road Safety Policy following initiatives taken:
· High priority accorded to identification and rectification of Black
Spots.
· Road safety audit of selected National Highways taken up.
· Threshold of 4-laning of National Highways reduced from 15000 to
10000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs).
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· The design and construction of road facilities has been made to take
in account the needs of non-motorized transport and vulnerable
users.
· Government has started focusing on training of drivers and better
licensing systems.
· 13 Model Driver Training Institutes have been set up and made
operational.
· Ministry has decided to set up 25 Regional Driving Centres.
· Efforts are being made to change driver behaviour.
· Focus has been set on problems of drunken driving, absence of seat
belt use, over-speeding and use of mobiles while driving.
· Ministry has now started recognizing the importance and need of
safer vehicles.
· MoRTH has sanctioned 10 model Automated Inspection and
Certification Centres for Vehicle Fitness in 10 States.
· Addressing Road Safety Challenges in India, the Government of
India (GoI) aims to tackle the road safety challenge through a
multifaceted approach. The recent enactment of the Motor Vehicles
(Amendment) Act 2019 (MVAA) is a laudable and timely step
toward reducing the death toll on the roads in India. The WBG
provided technical guidance for the draft bill, to help shift its
primary focus from motor vehicle registration, motor vehicle use,
and penalties, to a more comprehensive legislative framework that
covers all aspects of road safety, on par with international good
practice.
· National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme:
1) Under the scheme, cranes and ambulances to various State
Governments will be provided.
2) NHAI also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 kms. On
each completed National Highway under O&M contract. 3 pilot
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projects for providing cashless treatment of road accident
victims launched.
3) GOI has issued guidelines on Good Samaritans to protect them
from harassment while trying to save lives of road accident
victims.
Road Safety Implementation Challenges in India
Despite substantial challenges in implementation of road safety rules, it can
be clearly seen that some progress has been made in most areas. The
challenges can be summarized as follows:
1. Coordination of Implementation through the Various
Agencies: The coordination among 28 states, 8 Union Territories,
all the metro regions and local authorities, as well as the agencies
has been a challenge for Road Safety Rules to implement. It is
necessary to work to a national calendar of priority activities in
respect to both enforcement and communication issues, and this
is a challenge when many agencies are involved. Fragmentation
in implementing enforcement and communication activities has a
negative impact on safety.
2. Lack o f I nter- d e p a r tmental Synchronization and
Coordination: The synchronization and coordination among
various departments responsible for road safety rules
implementation has been a big challenge. Discussions and joint
projects with departments of Justice, Education, Labour, Social
Development, Housing, Communications, Safety and Security
and Public Enterprises are vital, to ensure a cooperative approach
to dealing with the challenges in fine collection, and other areas
of joint responsibility.
3. Behaviour of Road Users: The behaviour of road users has been
the largest contributing factor to the lack of road safety progress.
95% of crashes follow a violation of some kind, most of which
involve inappropriate speed, alcohol, unsafe overtaking, unsafe
pedestrian behaviour and failure to wear seat belts or helmets. It
is extremely difficult to change the behaviour of people in a
society.
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4. The Lack of Skilled, Committed Personnel and Funding has
been a huge challenge. In case of many city administrations, there
is limited funding for overtime, and as most crashes occur at
night and over weekends when officers are not working, this
presents a problem. Visibility must be improved, and more
officers need to be employed, and properly trained. The public
must understand that enforcement is for their benefit.
5. Delays in Implementation at National Level Due to Lack of
Resources like computerized learner license testing have
encouraged city administrations and municipalities to initiate
projects without finalization of national standards.
6. Lack of Management: Although we have a legitimate
government in terms of international democratic processes, there
is still a substantial lack of management, HR and other skills.
Legitimacy does not equate to competency. Almost 50% of empty
posts in some departments pose the question: why is it so difficult
to retain skilled and passionate staff? Executive management
needs to learn to get the best out of staff, make them feel valued
and create an environment which is conducive to action and
implementation, instead of continued debate, discussion and
prevarication.
7. Unavailability of Complete, Accurate and Reliable Accident
Data: The absence of complete, accurate and reliable Accident
Data is one of the biggest hurdles in the way to correct diagnosis
and right policy formulations to address most of the Road Safety
Issues.
8. Shortage of Road Safety Engineers in India: Making
Traffic/Road Safety Engineering a recognized discipline in
engineering colleges has not been realized yet, hence there is an
acute shortage of Traffic Engineers to be appointed for designing
and implementing road safety norms and policies.
9. Insufficient Indigenous Road Safety Research
10. Large 2-Wheeler Population in Vehicle Fleet with Very Poor
Operational Safety
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11. Enforcement of Road Safety Norms 24x7 using Technology for
Seamless Road Safety has not been deployed yet due to lack of
required funds, infrastructure and seriousness of enforcement
staff.
12. Inadequate Emergency Care Response: There have been some
improvements at this front but yet it has to be lot better to meet
global standards.
13. Sustainable Funding of Road Safety: Adequate funds to back
Road Safety Policies Enforcement are still not available.
14. Uninformed and Unorganized Road Maintenance: During road
maintenance activities, traffic is just being diverted to the opposite
lanes without proper arrangements to inform vehicles moving in
those lanes and this is increasingly contributing to road crashes as
high-speed vehicles being in their own lanes expect no opposite
traffic and get uncontrolled in such situations.
15. Road user Compliance with Helmet and Seat Belt Laws in
India is reportedly very low.
16. Population: Huge Population in India is the greatest and most
difficult to a factor to implement policies for overall growth of the
nation and population is proving the biggest challenge to
implement Road Safety Policies also.
17. Mixed Roads Users: Formulating and Implementing of Road
Safety Policies for diverse road users like Pedestrians, Bicycles,
Auto-rickshaw, Cycle-rickshaws, Two-Wheelers (Scooters,
Motorcycles, etc.), E-Rickshaws, Cars, Buses, Trucks of many
types, Self-Designed Vehicles (Jugads), Animals-Driven-Carts has
been a challenge for Traffic Authorities in India.
Suggestions
1. Privatization of enforcement by use of available modern
techniques will bring down unit cost of strict/effective
enforcement.
2. Government must encourage MSMEs, Start-ups, IITs and other
institutions in India to work on developing cost-effective ways,
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Intelligent Systems and other technologies for cheaper and
efficient 24X7 enforcement of Road Safety measures.
3. Stricter licensing Regime needs to be devised and implemented.
Data reveals that owners of regular license involved in more
number of road accidents (79.1%). This needs scientific
evaluation of issue of licenses. Automation in testing for issue of
driving license has helped in grant of license to only deserving
candidates. The stringent mechanism of driving licensing will
help in building awareness among drivers on safe driving.
4. Increase in skilled drivers on road will ensure reduction in road
accident cases.
5. Appropriate fencing (high and strong with less numbers of
openings) along high-speed highways and expressways will
improve safety considerably.
6. Proper Lighting and Reflecting Signboards on roads at Night will
improve Road Safety.
7. Current levels of investment in transportation have failed to
provide safe public transport and safe infrastructure facilities for
road users. This is particularly the case with high-speed roads
which lack adequate provision of safe access and crossing
facilities for vulnerable road users. Over/under bridges for
pedestrians and two-wheelers need to be built at regular distances
as vulnerable road users, primarily pedestrians, cyclists, and two-
wheelers, account for almost 54 percent of all fatalities and
serious injuries (GoI 2019).
8. The Road Maintenance Activities should be planned and carried-
out very seriously and professionally making proper arrangements
for safe movement of the traffic of the lane under maintenance
without disturbing the traffic in the opposite lanes to avoid road
crashes.
9. Safety features like ABS, Airbags, Seatbelts, etc. must be made
mandatory in even cheapest variants of all types of vehicles.
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10. The seatbelts in state roadways buses, school buses and other
public/public transports must be provided and strictly enforced by
the conductor/attendant present in the vehicle.
11. Road safety management at the national and sub-national levels
lack a comprehensive approach. A stronger emphasis needs to be
placed on institutional ownership of the problem, accountability
for safety performance, safer infrastructure, a regulatory
framework that demands greater vehicle safety for all road users,
targeted enforcement of safe road user behaviors, and improved
post-crash health services.
12. Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act 2019 (MVAA) recognizes road
safety programs must be effectively managed and coordinated
through an apex body. It includes a provision to establish an
empowered and accountable National Road Safety Board (NRSB)
and counterpart state agencies. Several states in India, including
Kerala and Gujarat, have, with WBG support, already established
independent and empowered state road safety authorities as
counterparts to the proposed NRSB. Similar models in other
states would help resolve difficult coordination issues between
police, transport, health, and other stakeholder agencies, as well
as streamline crash reporting processes and procedures at the state
and national levels.
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