Rajasthan to become first State to adopt a road safety action plan for 10 years
- Rajasthan will shortly become the first State in the country to adopt an action plan for road safety for the next 10 years.
- the action plan, to be accompanied by a government policy, will be aimed at reducing road accidents in the State by 50% till 2030
Key Highlights of the Plan
According to the draft:
- Phase 1 (2025–2027): This stage will concentrate on enhancing institutional frameworks, building capacity, and meeting interim targets outlined in the action plan.
- Phase 2 (2028–2030): The goal here is to achieve a 50% reduction in road accident fatalities in line with the UN's Second Decade of Action for Road Safety.
- Phase 3 (2031–2033): This phase aims to reduce road accident fatalities by 75%.
Reasons for Increased Road Accidents
- The “Annual Report on ‘Road Accidents in India-2022,” published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, reveals that India experienced 4.6 trillion accidents, resulting in 168,000 deaths and over 400,000 serious injuries. This represents a 12% increase in accidents and a 10% rise in fatalities. Contributing factors include:
- Insufficient infrastructure
- Poor enforcement of traffic laws
- Inadequate engineering practices
- Lack of public awareness regarding safe driving
- Poor quality of detailed project reports (DPRs)
- Insufficient deterrent effect of legal consequences
Impact of Road Accidents
- The repercussions of road accidents extend well beyond the immediate losses, causing an economic impact equivalent to 3.18% of the GDP. They also lead to reduced workforce productivity due to fatalities and disabilities, and substantial financial burdens from medical expenses, vehicle repairs, and damage to infrastructure.
Good Governance
- Kerala has achieved a milestone with zero road deaths on its network of roads, including the challenging hill routes leading to the Sabarimala temple. The state managed to maintain zero road accident fatalities for two consecutive years starting from 2019-20, thanks to continuous efforts by the state government—an unprecedented achievement in India.
Required Measures
To address the issue, the following measures are necessary:
- Adoption of smart infrastructure, such as:
- Intelligent traffic management systems
- Real-time data analytics
- Leveraging emerging technologies to reduce human errors and improve collision avoidance, including:
- Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication
- Autonomous driving systems
- India aims to cut the number of road accidents by 50% by 2030.