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Centre to set up apex body to deal with road hazards

The NDA government is mulling to establish the National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board - an apex body to address all road safety related issues in the country by end of this year. The board, under the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), will be focusing on ‘regulation of road safety, traffic management system and safety standards in highway design and construction.’

Vijay Chibber, secretary, road transport and highways ministry, explained while speaking at a seminar, ‘The proposed Road Safety and Traffic Management Board will help in the development and regulation of road safety, traffic management system and safety standards in highway design and construction. The board will have overarching powers to seek explanation and issue directions to both government and private agencies on all issues relating to road safety.’ The seminar on ‘Road Safety during Dark Hours’ was organised jointly by MoRTH and International Road Federation (IRF).

‘The board will have powers to summon vehicle manufacturers, if it finds any fault in vehicles involved in accidents. Besides, it will have powers to recommend minimum design, construction, operation and maintenance standards for national highways. It can also conduct safety audits to monitor compliance. In addition to it, it can carry out research in different spheres of road safety and traffic management and recommend mechanism for data collection,’ said Chibber.

Different agencies, including World Health Organization (WHO), have pushed the need for a central body that can coordinate and oversee road safety-related issues in India. At present, there is little coordination among different wings of governments at the centre and states working on road safety.
‘India accounts for more than 10 per cent of total road fatalities worldwide despite having only one percent of the world’s vehicle population. About 1.38 lakh people died in road accidents in India during the year 2013. 

India suffers a staggering loss of Rs1 lakh crore ($20 billion) every year due to road accidents. Most of the accidents during dark hours including twilight and morning fog are attributed to lack of lights, driving or riding under influence of alcohol, higher driving speeds due to empty roads, poor road engineering, construction site non safety measures, impaired night vision etc,’ said KK Kapila, chairman, IRF.

‘Some of the subjects that were discussed during the seminar included MoRTH measures to promote road safety at dark, hazards of night driving and hazards faced by night drivers, vehicle standards for night driving, night time enforcement use of reflective tapes to bring in conspicuity and creating road safety environment in dark,’ he added.
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