New Delhi: Underlining non-segregation traffic as a major cause for road accidents, the Union ministry of road transport (MoRTH) is working on a proposal to create dedicated lanes for two-wheelers on the state highways and urban roads. All major urban roads will also have pedestrian foot over bridges (FOBs) or underpasses to reduce the accidents.
According to the government records, about 44% road accidents and fatalities involve two-wheelers, while pedestrians account 17% of accidents and 19% fatalities on roads. Considering the nature of accidents, pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders are categorised as vulnerable road users (VRUs). Over 50% of the people killed in road accidents belong to the VRU category.
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The MoRTH has recently circulated a consultation paper titled ‘SAFE’ for making strategies to reduce road crashes and deaths with main focus on VRUs. Officials said that Malaysia has also started building dedicated corridors for two-wheelers along the national highways after the country rise in cases of motorists’ accidents
The ministry is also contemplating including the road safety in the school curriculum to sensitise the students about measures to check accidents. It has also proposed holding annual road safety workshops for the youths, since 50% accident cases involve them (less than 35 years). The proposal aims to achieve 70% reduction in accidents and fatalities in terms of 10,000 vehicles and 50% reduction in terms of 10,000 km of road length.
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Alongside it, the ministry is also working on the measures to enhance institutional capabilities, policy frameworks, and financial structures to reduce road accidents.
Officials said that the plan has been conceptualised as a centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS) and the government has identified a sum of ₹14,000 crore to be spent on it. The Centre will spend ₹9,948 crore on the project, while the state governments and Union Territories (UT) will arrange the remaining ₹4,053 crore from their own resources.
