Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Union Minister Road Transport and Highways, has said that emerging nations should take road safety as an 
important item on the political agenda and define a road map towards mitigating serious and fatal injuries occurring due to road crashes in this Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Delivering the inaugural address at the 67th meeting of the Working Party 1 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on Road Traffic Safety at the Institute of Road Traffic Management in Faridabad, he said: “I am concerned about the global problem of road safety where 1.3 million innocent lives are lost and an estimated 50 million persons get seriously injured in road crashes every year. About 85% of these occur in emerging economies, including India. The number of persons killed in road accidents in India is quite large. During the last two years, the number of accidents has shown a decreasing trend. The number of fatalities has also decreased during 2012 for the first time. The number of fatalities is still very high. The global road safety trend shows that many countries have been successful in tackling the problem of road safety in as much as the accident rate is diminishing”.
Some of the countries have adopted “vision zero” which envisages that safety is paramount and an accident, even if it occurs, should not result in severe injuries or a fatality. The “Safe System Approach” being advocated by the United Nations is still more relevant, in that the problem of safety is also a problem of social equity. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorized two-wheelers compete with automobiles for space on the road, and are most often at the receiving end. A major fraction of the road accident fatalities is comprised of the vulnerable road users.
According to the Minister, the process of moving from ad hoc road safety activities to developing and implementing sustainable programmes is on. “This requires certain conditions to be met, such as prioritizing road safety at the political level and as a development issue, establishing institutional mechanisms responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating road safety programmes having a critical mass of competent personnel and securing sustainable funding mechanisms”.
The Minister further said that the National Road Safety Policy was approved by the Government on March 15, 2010. It covers both preventive and post-accident aspects of road safety and advocates a multi-pronged approach to tackle the issue of road safety. His Ministry, in consultation with the States, is also in the process of finalizing a time-bound action plan with annual targets and commensurate allocation of resources. To oversee implementation of the road safety policy, the Government is actively considering creation of a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board. The Board would act as a dedicated agency to oversee road safety activity in the country and would have powers to issue guidelines on a wide range of issues concerning road safety. Each State is also to set up a lead agency on road safety, with the authority and responsibility to make decisions, control resources and co-ordinate efforts by all Government departments.
In order to give a boost to emergency care of accident victims, a pilot project has been launched by the Ministry on Gurgaon-Jaipur section of NH 8, for providing cashless treatment to the victims for 48 hours at an expenditure of upto Rs. 30,000. GPS-enabled ambulances connected with a central control room through a toll-free number 1033 are stationed at intervals of 20 km to transport the injured to hospitals for treatment within the ‘Golden Hour’.
The Ministry has also taken action for formulation of the National Ambulance Code in order to improve the quality and safety of ambulances on Indian roads. Certain minimum standards and guidelines have been laid down for constructional and functional requirements of ambulances so as to ensure care and comfort to the patients. The Ministry has already initiated action to make construction of ambulances as per provisions of the Code mandatory under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
Referring to ascertaining the minimum fitness requirement of in-use vehicles, Mr. Fernandes obsered that his Ministry is also focusing on strengthening the inspection and certification system which would help in reducing road accidents attributed to mechanical fault in vehicles. The States are also being encouraged to set up automated vehicle inspection centres on a PPP basis. Local engineering colleges, polytechnics and industrial training institutes will also be involved in this activity.
Efforts are also on for improving and augmenting the enforcement mechanism for Motor Vehicle Regulations, through the use of modern technology. These activities need to be funded on a sustainable basis. For the purpose, the States have been asked to set up dedicated road safety fund at the State level by diverting 50 per cent penalties collected for traffic violations. The Ministry is also contemplating provision of a one-time grant to the States to help strengthen their effort in this regard.
With a view to spreading road safety awareness among the general public, the Government has been undertaking various publicity measures in the form of telecasting/broadcasting, hoardings, Road Safety Week, seminars, exhibitions, essay competition on road safety, etc.
In order to improve roads from the engineering perspective, the Government is insisting on road safety audits at all stages of construction of highways, beginning right from the planning stage. Identification and remedy of ‘Black Spots’ has been undertaken in 13 States which account for more than 90 per cent of road accident fatalities in India. The Government is also trying to put in place systems for ensuring the safety of women while using the transport system. To this end, GPS-based vehicle tracking systems in public transport vehicles with provision of raising emergency alerts are envisaged. In the first phase, cities with a population of above one million will be taken up.
“I hope that the exchange between the Forum and developing countries would gain momentum both in frequency and substance. I am sure that the deliberations in this meeting of the Forum will be helpful in formulating policies in the transport sector, especially, in the matter of safety of road users”, Mr. Fernandes added.