SAFE ( a SIAM initiative) Annual Convention 2011

Road Safety Awareness, Enforcement & Technology - Initiatives of IRF India Chapter

By

N. K. SINHA Chairman

IRF, India Chapter President, ICT Pvt. Ltd.

29th April, 2011

Former Director General (Road Development) &

Special Secretary, MoRT&H

ROAD SAFETY

United Nations called for a first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Moscow in November 2009

Decade of Action For Road Safety– to be launched on 11th May 2011 -worldwide

UN Decade of Action - Agenda for Implementation

Build Management Capacity

Influence road design and network management

Influence vehicle safety design

Influence road user behavior

Improve post crash care

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Road Safety Scenario - India

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130,000 deaths every year,

and 500,000 injuries

356 deaths per day, equivalent to a

jumbo crash everyday – no survivors

15 deaths per hour

One of the top three causes of death for

05-44 yr age group

Road Safety Scenario - India

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Fatalities due to Road Accidents Registered Motor Vehicles

The country loses 2-3% of the GDP on account of these road accidents.

In absolute terms, at today’s cost the colossal loss works out to

Rs. 750 billion per year.

International Road Federation (IRF)

International Road Federation (IRF) was established in 1948.

IRF is a not-for-profit worldwide federation of public and private entities, promoting road development to improve social and economic benefits

Its membership extends across more than 90 countries in all six continents.

Active in advocacy of issues relevant to the road industry ranging from financing to technology development to safety and environment concerns, and whole gamut of interests of the world community pertaining to roads and roads transport.

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IRF (India Chapter)

Though IRF has been very active in India since 2006, International Road Federation (India Chapter) was formally set up in February 2009.

Membership – Government and private organizations, associations, dealing with roads and road transport, universities and research institutes.

Major Thrust Areas :-

Safety - National Campaign for reduction of road fatalities launched in September, 2009 jointly by IRF (India Chapter) and MoRT&H.

Environment – IRF Policy launched on 24th January 2011

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Conferences IRF 1st Regional Conference on “Business and Environment for

Road Development in India”, 20th - 21st March 2006

IRF 2nd Regional Conference on “Road Safety Design, Construction and Operations of Roads”, 05th - 06th October 2007

IRF 3rd Regional Conference on “Mobility and Safety in Road Transport”, 3rd - 4th October 2008

IRF 4th Regional Conference on “Accident Prevention: Road Safety Measures”, 23rd - 24th October, 2009

IRF 5th Regional Conference on “Institutional Arrangements for Reduction of Road Fatalities”, 25th - 26th November, 2010.

Proposed IRF 6th Regional Conference on “ Road Safety Strategy in India – Action Plan”, 3rd to 5th October, 2011.

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Road Safety Initiatives

IRF (India Chapter) has been spearheading actions to be taken by the Governments, Associations, and the private organizations by mobilizing opinion, action and resources aiming at the reduction of road fatalities in India.

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Revision of the Motor Vehicle Act

IRF (India Chapter) has made valuable suggestions for consideration in revision of MVA

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Engineering Improvements

A Committee was constituted comprising all the stakeholders to recommend a series of engineering improvements in the rural and urban roads for satisfying the requirements of forgiving roads

The Government has since issued a circular on 27th April, 2010 to all concerned Departments to implement the desired engineering measures both on existing roads as well as in on-going road projects.

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Engineering Improvements

IRF India has written to all the state PWD’s to identify the most unsafe roads and get it audited so that at least one road becomes forgiving road in each state. MORT&H has agreed that the states could submit such estimates to the Ministry for approval.

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Road Safety Research and Training of Drivers

A proposal for model Driver Training Academy and Research Centre has been submitted. It is recommended that such centers to be established in about 20 locations in the country.

It has also been recommended to the GoI to use the available infrastructure in the existing Polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) which are having the Automobile Engineering or Motor Mechanics Departments.

These will facilitate creation of fully equipped driver training schools in the range of 10,000 or so with minimum additional investment.

Simultaneously, the existing driver training schools will be upgraded.

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Road Safety Awareness Campaign GoI and all stakeholders have been requested to engage in a massive

campaign for road safety awareness. IRF (India Chapter) has prepared different types of public education campaign materials for promoting road safety through various print and visual media, which are:-

Five television promos have been prepared on Road Safety themes jointly with NDTV for showing in the television. More such promos are under preparation on several other themes of road safety.

On the recommendations of IRF, India Chapter, Govt. of India has issued directives to all States to show road safety short films before any feature film is screened in cinema halls. Two short films on road safety themes, viz. drunken driving and help to accident victims, have been produced by IRF for showing in cinema halls. More such films will be produced. Made available to 6 States.

Screening of these films has been started by Govt. of NCT of Delhi in 22 halls since 7th January, 2011.

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Road Safety Awareness Campaign

Number of posters on Road Safety have been prepared for display in the Government as well as private corporate offices. These are on display now in many such offices in India. During Road Safety Week 2011, posters of help to accident victims were posted in various hospitals in Delhi.

IRF has prepared Road safety messages in association with Ministry, which are being published thrice a week in 120 newspapers in the country in different languages

Government has issued a circular to display large hoardings with Road Safety messages in various important locations. IRF (India Chapter) has designed large number of such hoardings and have supplied the designs to all the States for display.

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Road Safety Awareness Campaign

The IRF (India Chapter) has prepared and submitted to the GoI a structured report for the Road Safety Education in school curriculum to be adopted uniformly across all school boards in the country. The Government has since set up an Expert Group to develop the curriculum.

The Govt. has been requested to issue instructions to print the road signs with their meanings in the front and back inside cover of all school text books, for mass awareness.

Some visits of Road Safety Experts to schools have been sponsored to develop the safety consciousness amongst school children and adoption of safe road user behavior through lectures, games, competitions, and actual demonstrations.

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National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board

The Government of India is going to enact a law to establish a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board making it responsible to steer all action plans for road safety in the country.

The States are also being advised to set up counterpart Boards at the State level.

The IRF (India Chapter) has made valuable suggestion for incorporation in the draft bill for setting up of National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board, as recommended by Sundar Committee .

This will provide an institutional setup needed for implementation of road safety matters uniformly across the country.

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Recommendations for improvement in vehicle design

IRF (India Chapter) has taken up with the Government to issue instructions to the respective industries to paint the mudguards of the motorized two wheelers in fluorescent paint for visibility at all times.

Request to get the bicycles painted in orange colour for better visibility has been favourably considered by the Government. The matter has been taken up with the Ministry of Industries.

On the recommendation of IRF (India Chapter) the Government is actively working with SIAM to implement various in-vehicle safety devices in all motor vehicles.

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Recommendation for enforcement

The Government has been requested by IRF (India Chapter) to enforce adoption of advanced technologies for road traffic management including ITS in both urban and non-urban areas.

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Financing

On the recommendation of IRF, India Chapter the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has taken up with the Ministry of Finance, the following:

To permit duty free import of Intelligent Transport System related equipment for efficient traffic management and safety

To permit duty free import of Driving Simulators, which are essential for Driver Training Schools to impart proper training for improving driving skills.

To provide tax exemption to the Donors from Corporate World and Philanthropist individuals, etc. who extend a helping hand by incurring expenditures towards road safety programs.

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Road Accident Data Collection System

On the recommendations of IRF, India Chapter The Government is developing structured database of accidents, to be collected by adopting the GPS guided hand-held computers

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Recommendations to the Govt. of Delhi

Issue of appropriate directions on the following:

To provide adequate space for pedestrian along all roads with requisite safety railings etc.

To provide proper signaling and signages to facilitate movements of pedestrians at junctions as well as at mid-block locations of the road

To take due enforcement measures to control drunken driving

To make the legal provisions and stringent enforcements for use of helmet by rider and pillion rider

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Training of Road Safety Auditors

IRF (India Chapter) and Australian Road Research Board have jointly planned to build capacity on Road Safety Audit in India by conducting certification course for road safety auditors

Six such courses (one week course) have been conducted and 180 auditors have been trained till Feb 2011.

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Conclusion

IRF India Chapter has been actively associating with the GoI, Associations and private institutions for the sustainable impact regarding road safety

IRF, India Chapter acknowledges great efforts made by SIAM for holding their Annual Convention 2011 on “ROAD SAFETY @ AWARENESS, ENFORCEMENT & TECHNOLOGY” and congratulates them.

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Thank You