The government on January 14 said it will conduct road safety audit of 3,000 km of central and state highways this year, to avoid increasing accidents. India accounts for 5 lakh road accidents annually in which 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh are crippled for life. The loss due to this is equivalent to 3 per cent of the GDP of the country. Road safety in any country is of extreme importance, vigilance on the roads should always be switched on, however, despite the fact that motorists should do this, there are some who will lack in their vigilance and in doing so can cause accidents even if the other driver is following the law. This is why professionals such as a Des Moines auto accident lawyer or a lawyer based in India, will be needed to go over what the next steps are to take. It can be a harrowing experience for drivers to go through something like this, so knowing that there are people out there to help them is essential no matter where they are based.
If at all the government would want to remove any such incidents, they would have to implement various policies and include technological advancements. If we take the simple example of a truck accident which is a frequent case in any country, the proper inclusion of trucking software and correctional policies might be able to curb it – if not completely eradicate it. However, it must be taken into consideration that this step should come from not only government agencies but also private businesses, which often include cars, trucks and other vehicles in their fleet.
Anyway, Road Secretary Sanjay Mitra mentioned a few things about road safety audits when he was speaking at a seminar jointly organised by Road Ministry and International Road Federation (IRF) as part of the ongoing National Road Safety Week.
About Road Safety Audit:-
- Road Safety Audit involves evaluating highway improvement scheme during design, at the end of construction and post construction, to identify road safety problems and to suggest measures to eliminate or mitigate any concerns.
- These audits are undertaken by teams of specialists trained in the skills of road safety engineering. Strategic road schemes and the majority of new works are required to have an independent Road Safety Audit to take corrective measures to reduce accidents.
- Government is also planning to launch a programme to sensitise and educate truck drivers on road safety on the lines of AIDS awareness and prevention programme launched for heavy vehicle drivers several years ago.
- Under the programme, all medium and heavy vehicle drivers will be educated about careless driving and on the benefits of road worthiness of vehicles.
