Centre to set up body on road safety

With an aim to halve the deaths on roads each year, Union minister for highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that the Centre will soon unveil a Road Safety Authority, while Rs 11,000 crore would be spent over five years to fix “black spots (accident spots)”.

The minister, while speaking to reporters, said that road accidents cause an annual loss of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore which amounts to three per cent of the GDP.

“It is saddening to see that mostly youth in the age bracket of 22-33 years lose their lives. To deal with such an alarming scenario, 726 black spots have been identified across the country,” Mr Gadkari said.

The Centre has stated that roughly 1.50 lakh people die on roads due to accidents in the country. Among the 726 black spots identified across the country are 10 in Delhi, which include Sarai Kale Khan, Kashmere Gate chowk (Mori Gate), Nigambodh Ghat, Mukundpur Chowk, Dr Bhabha Marg crossing, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Mahipalpur flyover, Shani Mandir and Shahdara flyover.

“In a year, 5 lakh accidents take place in the country, of which 1.5 lakh people die and another three lakh are crippled for life. So many people do not even die in wars or extremism killing or disease,” added the minister.

Mr Gadkari also informed that his ministry will issue the official notification in a few days to ensure that good Samaritans saving lives of road accident victims need not fear harassment by the police or other authorities.

“People helping road accident victims need not be afraid of harassment at the hands of the police or other authorities as a notification will be out in a day or two in this connection,” the minister said.

The ministry’s decision states that not only a bystander or good Samaritan, including an eyewitness of a road accident taking an injured to a nearest hospital, should be allowed to leave immediately, but they shall be suitably rewarded or compensated by the authorities in the manner as may be specified by state governments to encourage other citizens to come forward to help road accident victims.