Making Roads Safer

What is the issue? 

• There was a series of road accidents in different parts of the country in recent days.
• It calls for fixing road design and enforcing safety protocols in India.

What are the concerns?

• Accidents - Nationally around 1,50,000 are dying and several hundred thousand are injured annually.
• The data on Indians killed or injured in road accidents put out annually by the Centre do not reflect the picture.
• It obscures the human impact of the loss on national and State highways, as well as urban and rural roads.

• Investigative mechanism - There is lack of expert help to conduct a technical investigation into an accident.
• The executive agencies such as the Police and Public Works Departments thus fall short in this regard.

• The present investigative machinery does not have the capability to determine faults.
• Thus the officials responsible for bad road design and construction and lax traffic managers often escape liability.
• Victims - For accident victims, there is the heavy burden of out-of-pocket expenditure on medical treatment.
• The government had promised to address this issue through a cashless facility.
• But it has not been able to do so.
• As, the requisite amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act have not yet been passed.

How is the response?

• Supreme Court - SC has been trying to shake governments out of their apathy.
• It constituted the Committee on Road Safety in 2014 at this end.
• It has also made several specific and time-bound directions.
• However, the response of the Centre and the States has been far from responsible.
• Black spots - Safety black spots on roads were identified on the basis of fatal accidents between 2011 and 2014.
• But only around 190 out of the around 790 such spots had been rectified.
• Funds had been sanctioned for another 256.
• The rest are either under State jurisdiction or awaiting sanction.
• Mere incremental approaches such as these result in worrying national record on road fatalities.

What should be done?

• Investigation - The accidents should be probed by qualified transport safety experts.
• This is crucial to determine the systemic shortfalls.
• Only a scientific investigation system can stop the routine criminalising of all accidents.
• There needs to be a report on the mishaps, to identify lapses, if any.
• And the remedial road engineering measures should be taken up accordingly.
• District Committees - The SC has directed that the performance of district committees should be reviewed periodically.
• This should ideally follow mandatory public hearings every month.
• This is for the citizens to record road risk complaints.
• Mechanism - The much-delayed National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board should be formed.
• The provision for State governments to participate in this has to be materialised.
• Ultimately, road safety depends on enforcement of rules with zero tolerance to violations.
• More importantly, officials should be made accountable for safety.

Source: The Hindu