The National Road Safety Policy Posted Date: 01 Jul 2009     Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing     Category: News Author: Subir Majumdar Member Level: Gold     Rating: Points: 20 (Rs 20)

Driving on to the Sunshine The Government will clear a comprehensive road safety policy very soon. A national road safety board along with a road safety fund, for which a small fraction of the cess levied on petrol and diesel are to be set aside, will be set-up for the same purpose. It was in 2005 that PM Manmohan Singh had made it clear that having a comprehensive road safety policy was a necessity and had cleared a proposal regarding the policy as well. An expert committee also made recommendations to the Government on this matter but, like most of its predecessors, even this road program remained only on paper. Officials involved in the finalizing of this policy say that the while the road safety policy will only set-up the broad principles, it is the national road safety board that will construct the minimum standards to be followed and implement them on the state and national roads and highways. The top priority, as expected, will most probably be to set high safety standards for all motor vehicles. There will also be a minimum safety standard of roads, so as to allow the safe passage of vehicles through it. For the auto ancillary industry, struggling from the aftershocks of the financial downturn, the policy may well act as a shot in the arm. Since, proper seat-belt mechanisms and providing airbags while manufacturing automobiles will be made mandatory by the board. Moreover, all the tyres of a vehicle have to be changed after a particular measure on the odometer, without which the vehicles shall not be allowed to hit-the-roads. Standards for the construction and operation of highways and road safety audits will also be on the checklist of the board. The members of the road safety board who will come from diverse fields like medicine; law and engineering will carry out these audits. Currently, the apex advisory board of the road safety matters is the National Road Safety Council. And recommendations are drawn from bodies like the Indian Road Congress, IITs and National Institute of Mental and Neuro Sciences. The nation records more than 4,30,000 accidents on roads and is in a desperate need of a better road safety framework. This has obviously caught the attention of the Government this time and the policy is high on the PM’s agenda. His own enthusiasm about the “safe-passage” of the policy may well catalyse its processing. Reference: Businessworld, 8 June 2009

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