August,20,2015: "India has the dubious distinction of leading the world in road related accidents and deaths" but there was no coordination between the central and state authorities on the collection of data on road fatalities.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam had asked the government to extend better medical facilities made available on an experimental basis on national highways to more stretches of national highways and roads under state governments.
The panel headed by Justice KS Radhakrishnan with former secretary, ministry of surface transport, S Sundar and former Head of Department of Traffic Engineering and Safety Nishi Mittal bas members was formed.
The court had directed all state governments and various central ministries involved in various road safety issues to submit their first report to the committee in three months indicating the state of implementation of all laws pertaining to licensing, certification of fitness of vehicles, passenger/weight carrying capacity, use of road safety devices, adherence to road user norms add deployment of adequate manpower for enforcement of existing provisions of law.
Cracking down on the lacklustre efforts made by the States and Union Territories in curbing traffic violations despite the high fatalities on the road, the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has directed that States and Union Territories either put offenders in jail or suspend their driving licences immediately.
“A detailed analysis of traffic accidents and fatalities has come to the conclusion that unless strong and urgent measures are taken to deal with over-speeding, drunken driving, red light jumping, violation of helmet laws and seat belt laws, use of mobile phones while driving, and overloading, the number of accidents and fatalities will continue to remain high,” the committee said in a note dated August 18, addressed to Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories.
The committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan, was formed on April 22 last year.
In a series of directions, the committee told State governments and Union Territories to suspend the driving licence, for a period of not less than three months, for various offences under the motor vehicles law, including using a mobile phone while driving.
An "alarming situation" which has come to light was that 70-75 per cent of two wheelers plying on the road were without any insurance.
A serious concern that emerged from various states was there was no uniformity in identifying "black spots" or location of repeated accidents, the panel said, adding that there was a need for drawing up a protocol to identify such black spots.
Drunken driving
Authorities should start criminal prosecution and seek imprisonment if a person is found driving under the influence of drinks or drugs. This applies even for a first-time offender.
Helmet laws should be made applicable all over the State/UTs both for main riders and the pillion riders, the committee said.
The committee wants the States and UTs to file Action Taken Reports at the end of every three months starting September 1, 2015.
Fact check
* India has over 46.89 lakh km road network, which is the second largest road network in the world after the US road network.
* One serious road accident occurs every minute in India.
* One person dies in a road traffic accident every four minutes.
* 1.30 lakh people died in road accidents in India in 2010.
* 5 lakh people received serious injuries in road accidents in 2010.
* 20% of those killed are under the age of 15.
* There are 35 accidents per 1000 vehicles.
* Drivers involved in road crashes are in the age group of 20-40 years.
* Two-wheelers and cars contribute to 50% of total accidents.
* Road crashes cost one to three per cent of the country's GDP.
* More than 50% of accidents are caused by drivers' faults.
* On March 15, 2010 Centre approved the National Road Safety Policy. It aims at promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure, including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws.
* National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board Bill 2010, which is pending in Parliament, envisages creation of National Road Safety Traffic Management Board to oversee road safety and traffic management in India.
Steps Taken
The committee directed the States to strengthen enforcement on drunken driving, over speeding, red light jumping and helmet and seat belt laws.
Other directions include, tightening of road patrols on highways, establishment of road safety fund to which a portion of traffic fines collected would go to finance road safety expenses and remove encroachments on pedestrian paths, among others.
