Date: 02/01/2023

Relevance: GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors.

Relevance: GS-3: Infrastructure financing and Capital markets, role of financing institutions.

Key Phrases: Road Safety, Causes of road accidents, Road infrastructure, Motor Vehicle Act, Road Safety Enforcement, Zone of Excellence (ZOE) in road safety.

Context:

• Recently, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, said that with 415 deaths and many injuries every day, the Indian road accident scenario is more serious than Covid-19.
• This shows that even with comprehensive road safety programmes, India’s record shows little signs of improvement.

Causes of road accidents

• Gross violations of the traffic norms and values
  • Deadly violations of lane driving, speed limits and traffic signals, instances of at-will parking on the fast-developing modern, smooth highways.
• Human error
  • Human error on the roads is the single-largest factor responsible.
• Infrastructural deficits
  • Pathetic conditions of roads and vehicles, poor visibility and poor road design and engineering – including quality of material and construction, especially a single-lane with a sharp curve.
• Weak Vehicle Safety Standards in India
  • In 2014, crash tests carried out by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) revealed that some of India’s top-selling car models have failed the UN (United Nations)’s frontal impact crash test.
• Lack of awareness
  • Regarding the importance of safety features like airbags, Anti-lock Braking system etc.
  • Also distraction due to talking over mobile phones while driving has become a major cause of road accidents.

Road safety is undermined in many ways

• Meagre funds for road safety
  • The central and state governments have little resources to run complex road safety programmes.
  • The World Bank has provided a $250 million loan to India to tackle the high rate of road crashes through road-safety institutional reforms and the results-based interventions.
• The administrative and political reasons
  • Road users’ inept understanding of the basic traffic rules and road signage, easier access to driving licences without a meaningful ground scrutiny of skills and unchecked selfish and aggressive driving behaviour continue to dominate Indian road traffic.
• Legal reasons
  • In case of a serious road crash, charges are framed against the erring drivers, but rarely (or, never) against the road-safety public officials for non-performance, non-enforcement of traffic rules, not taking urgent corrective action on conspicuous road-hazards and the black spots.
• Lack of accountability of road safety institutions
  • Various institutions of road safety, both at the national level and in the states, are engaged in routine paperwork and bear no accountability for the failure to produce desired results.
  • A serious laxity in working out systemic ways and achieving results-based interventions have marred the country’s road-safety.

How to promote Road safety?

• A new Motor Vehicle Act is needed
  • A newly power-packed Motor Vehicles Act, a decentralized federal structure, down to the level of district and panchayat administration which can address the administrative and legal issues.
• Empower Supreme Court committee on road safety
  • Empowering the Supreme Court committee on road safety and its regular monitoring of the related issues will do wonders.
• Set clear goals on accidental crashes
  • A specific regime whereby road safety authorities are given clear targets for reducing road crashes over a defined period.
  • Further, the same should be subjected to close and regular monitoring, review and accountability.
• Professional and time bound enforcement
  • Professional enforcement of rules and swift and innovative solutions to traffic indiscipline and bottlenecks by the administration could help evolve a healthy safe-road culture.
  • In Delhi, the government's insistence on drawing a bus lane on the city’s major roads has been accepted overnight, and largely implemented which can be replicated.

A proposed model to enhance road safety

• It is proposed to set up smaller areas, parts of major roads and highways, as “ideal” road safety zones.
• These zones will incubate locally suitable, comprehensive safe road practices, and a flawless culture of road safety.
• Identifying and marking the safety zones
  • Identify the two worst roads, state or national highway/road/part in a specific area and notify each identified road as a Zone of Excellence (ZOE) in road safety (RS).
  • Provide road marking/written instructions on road-surface/road signage, lanes for emergency vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians etc, as feasible
  • Ensure adherence to basic traffic rules/ safety norms, create multiple checkpoints (CP), every 2-4 kms for example, with each CP supported by road safety volunteers in addition to police.
  • Use tech aids, judiciously combined with manual interventions/ volunteers and Supplement enforcement with road safety education/ awareness measures.
  • Station ambulances and lift cranes for swift response to accidents and make reliable arrangements with hospitals/ trauma centres through formal MoUs.
  • The singular goal of each ZoE is to meet the defined targets in reducing road crashes.
• A three tiered administrative structure for the implementation of road safety can be set up.
  • Tier-1:
    • An autonomous and financially empowered body would act as the Managing Group (MG) which will be headed by a senior civil servant or police official and will have representatives from police, transport and health sectors, the public works department, and elected leaders.
    • The MG would meet daily to introspect, analyze issues, incorporate suggestions and assign tasks.
    • It would organize training and refresher programmes for traffic police and road safety volunteers.
  • Tier-2
    • It would have district level monitoring and exclusive personnel would be earmarked for ZoEs within a district.
    • This is where urgent solutions would be sought, budgetary allocations made and review modes fixed, would also ensure adherence to targets.
  • Tier-3
    • Tier 3 would have top management and control, represented at the level of the Union or state government.
    • It is at this level that a dynamic road-safety ecosystem would be developed.
    • Existing road safety institutions would either be dismantled or rejuvenated, and there would be monthly reviews, with directions, accountability and disciplinary action.

What could be the benefits of such a modal?

• This model of road safety is logical, simple, and practical and convincing that would add a new perspective to road safety measures.
• A potentially effective action plan, plus a dynamic live-experiment lab for road safety based on application of best practices, both local and global.
• Proactive engagement of elected public representatives, NGOs, RWAs, educational institutes and volunteers.
• An evolving standing expert think tank which would work for revitalisation and development of existing and new institutions of road safety.
• It will create employment opportunities and lead to traffic decongestion and lane discipline.
• A model that would be replicable in other low and middle-income countries.

Conclusion

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has been taking multiple initiatives including related to vehicular and road engineering as well as educational measures for raising awareness in the field of Road Safety.
• The need of the hour is that road safety should be seen as a public health issue rather than a transportation issue which should be addressed in a mission mode and a focus on the behavioral change in society will help realize these targets sooner.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q. The increased cases of road accidents in India call for a dire action plan of addressing road safety issues and accountability fixing at every level. Discuss (250 words).