Road mishap victims to get cashless cover

New Delhi: In a desperate bid to bring down the number of deaths on the country's roads, the government is looking to provide cashless cover to all road accident victims. Recognising that the first hour after an accident is the "golden hour" during which many lives can be saved if appropriate medical assistance is provided, it intends to bear all expenses incurred by an accident victim in the first 48 hours.

The government might, in turn, pay the hospitals via an escrow account. Moreover, the government intends to earmark 1% of its earnings from the cess on diesel and petrol for road safety.

A report on road safety released by World Health Organisation in August pointed out that India accounts for most road accident fatalities. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), road accidents account for 33% of all accidental deaths. NCRB records show 1,14,590 people died in road accidents in 2007.

This data has goaded the government to table a bill for formation of a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board in the winter session of parliament, which began on Thursday.

The board, which will recommend safety standards, will comprise experts from the field of road engineering, automobile engineering, traffic laws and medical care and oversee road safety activities in the country.

"In order to maintain the board's independence, it is proposed to give it financial autonomy by way of creating a National Road Safety Fund by earmarking 1% of the total proceeds of cess on petrol and diesel," an official from the ministry of shipping, road transport and highways said.

The board will work in consultation with the Indian Road Congress for designing, constructing, and operating national highways. It will also lay down guidelines for multi-disciplinary crash investigations and for collecting, reporting and analysing data of accidents by the different agencies involved.

The board will maintain a comprehensive database on road safety related matters.

Source-http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_road-mishap-victims-to-get-cashless-cover_1313977

Read more...

Road accidents claim more lives than terrorism

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who has been expressing concern over the increasing number of casualties in road accidents time and again, on Monday observed that road accidents claim more lives than terrorism.

Inaugurating a two-day national seminar on ‘Road Safety and Urban Traffic Management’, the Chief Minister said he was pained to learn that 13 people die in road accidents every hour and that the country had reported the highest rate of fatalities in the world.

Karunanidhi said nearly 80 per cent of the victims on the road were pedestrians. In big cities, the people who sleep on the pavements form a vulnerable group.

Pointing out that road safety and traffic management were not the sole responsibility of the police department and the government authorities, Karunanidhi said everybody has to contribute to make the roads safer. “Road safety and traffic management must become part of the curriculum right from the school level. Children should be sensitised towards these aspects by developing special package of games and leisure time activities,” he added.

He said the policemen on the road were not just the symbol of the State authority, they must also realise their role as problem solvers responsible for safety and well-being of all the road users.

In Chennai, the length of the road remained static whereas the vehicle population had tripled in the past 15 years. Due to industrial development, Chennai was witnessing a rapid increase in the movement of commercial container lorries. A comprehensive review of traffic management in the urban sector was essential, he said. The CM received a stamp released by Chief Post Master General Chakraborthy to coincide with the 150th year of TN Police.

Source-http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Road+accidents+claim+more+lives+than+terrorism&artid=XFdskUlDdF0=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ=&SEO=

Read more...

The report Confronting “Death on Wheels”: Making Roads Safe in Europe and Central Asia, released

The report Confronting “Death on Wheels”: Making Roads Safe in Europe and Central Asia, released after the first Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, reviews the size, characteristics, and causes of the road safety problem in ECA countries. The report will help bring into action the agreements reached during the conference held in Moscow on November 19-20, 2009 under the main theme Time for Action. The report finds that the magnitude of the road safety problem in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eastern and Central Europe, the Baltics, and the Balkans is much higher than in Western Europe, even though their car fleet is smaller and the number of kilometers they travel by car is lower. The report provides compelling evidence on the economic and social consequences of the silent epidemic and suggests a range of policies and strategies and to confront and prevent “death on wheels”.

Download this book here-http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ECAEXT/Resources/258598-1258495120876/DeathonWheelsWeb.pdf

Read more...

Pedestrian woes require streamlining unruly traffic

Source-http://www.dayafterindia.com/nov209/states6.html

Ratnadeep Banerji How to bell the belligerent drivers on road? The World Health Organization arraigns India of the highest number of road accident deaths than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China in its global report on road safety. Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), Jaipur and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi brought about an Indo-Swedish collaboration project with Lund University of Sweden. WHO report hints at road fatalities to become the world’s fifth biggest killer by 2030. The rich nations have been able to lower death rates as against a sharp rise in the third world. 90% of deaths on the world’s road are touted to occur in low and middle-income countries though they have just 48% of all registered vehicles. Incredulous enough, the city of Jaipur stands third in the number of road deaths in India, jolting CUTS to embark on this project there and generalize solutions to salvage the problem all over India. The alacrity of the situation in India arises owing to at least 13 deaths every hour, reckoning the report of the National Crime Records Bureau. In 2007 alone 1.14 lakh fatalities occurred as against 89,455 road deaths in China in 2006. Between 2006 and 2007, a sharp 6.1% rise took place. Statewise, Andhra Pradesh has the highest rate of road accident deaths of 12% closely followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, each contributing 11%. Also, contrary to the popular belief of trucks being the major killer on roads, NCRB reflects these to be the biggest victims of mishaps followed by two-wheeler riders. World over 120000 million people get killed every year. In India, Mumbai, Delhi and Kota witness 79%, 47% and 28% of the total pedestrian deaths in whole India. One main problem is that road users are not offered any comfortable and safe crossing options and also most of the existing pedestrian crossings are not suited for pedestrian usage. Reduction of average vehicular speeds by 10% de facto results in a 35% reduction of fatalities for pedestrians. It has now been proven that the only way of reaching low speeds is to use physical measures such as humps, speed breakers, rumble-strips and roundabouts prove pragmatic. However, contrary to the popular belief, no amount of professing can assuage the problem. Since the 1930s countries like the UK and the US have paid heed to scientific traffic engineering. But sadly in India, both central and state government while laying forth roads and highways are lackadaisical over safety norms. Experts from Lund University, Sweden feel traffic needs to be calmed below 50 km/hr for India and world alike. Also, the areas prone to vehicle-pedestrian conflict should observe vehicular speed below 30 km/hr. Extensive field studies were carried in Jaipur in accident prone sites and also case studies complemented with international experiences where pedestrian –vehicle conflicts are rampant. Conflicts were identified and prognosis was done to figure out what led to those situations. Such sites were video-recorded continuously for four days and thereafter analyzed by both Indian and Swedish team. Some measures that proved prudent in Europe can be well implemented in India as well though with local adaptation. The project has come up with a manual, first of its kind in India, which brings out the flaws in the design of Indian roads. Dr Dinesh Mohan from IIT Delhi lambasts our notions about crawling traffic speed in Indian metros. ‘In several European countries the average speed of vehicles is 20 km/hr. They could not improve it in the last 100 years. In the last 20 years, even the US has not increased traffic speed in any of its cities’. Prof. Geetam Tewari from IIT Delhi shatters a myth, ‘No driving education has ever decreased accidents’. Dr P.S. Pasricha, former DGP Maharashtra makes candid confession –‘India is in bad shape. A lot number of accidents are not reported. 70% of pedestrian causalities are in urban area. Still, we do not have a department on road safety’ remains the travails of our time. Reported by Ratnadeep Banerji is a writer with varied interests reachable at ratnaub@gmail.com

Read more...

It’s official: Drink, drive, lose licence (Times of India,November26,2009)

New Delhi: Driving under the influence of alcohol can now cost you your licence. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday accepted the city transport department’s new guidelines to deal with the menace of drunken driving, among which is the provision of cancelling the offender’s driving licence. The stage is now set for the guidelines to be notified within four weeks.
The new rules arm the Delhi Police with the right to confiscate the licence of a driver found to have consumed alcohol beyond permissible limits. In such cases, a memo would be issued to the driver who would then have to make a representation before the transport department. The department would decide whether the offender’s licence should be suspended or cancelled.
The new guidelines are part of an intensification of the campaign against drunken driving ahead of the Commonwealth Games next year.

Read more...

New UN resolution recognises motorcycle safety

Source-http://www.ma.org.au/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News9&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=34970

FIM Chief Executive Officer Guy Maitre and Director of Public Affairs John Chatterton-Ross were in Moscow 19-20 November for the United Nations first Ministerial Conference on road safety.

Opening the conference the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev called for action on a worldwide crisis running at one million three hundred thousand road deaths every year.

President Medvedev called for action on road safety to match other global issues. “Road safety is one of the most serious problems of international development requiring immediate action.”

“We need coordinated international effort. – This is an issue on the level of the global recession and food security.

"The UN Decade of Action will coordinate activity. Like many countries, Russia would benefit from increased international cooperation on road safety if a Decade of Action was adopted.”

The four page declaration includes specific action on vulnerable road users. It reads:

Make particular efforts to develop and implement policies and infrastructure solutions to protect all road users in particular those who are most vulnerable such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and users of unsafe public transport, as well as children, the elderly and people living with disabilities.

FIM CEO Guy Maitre said: “It was vital to attend – the FIM is a family of 101 national federations representing motorcycling worldwide and our mission runs beyond sport, we are the global advocate for motorcycling.”

FIM Director of Public Affairs John Chatterton-Ross added: “Wire rope barriers? I don’t think so! You can be certain this new and very welcome UN action will be widely quoted from now on as we work with governments to improve safety for riders and other vulnerable road users across the world.”

Read more...

Video developed by Organizers of First Ministerial Conference,Moscow called-Time For Action

Read more...