Workshop on Making Road Safer: Multi Sectorial Response on the occasion of Road Safety Week-2015

As a part of Road Safety Week–2015, a workshop on ‘Making Road Safer :

Multi-Sectorial Response’ was organized by Delhi Traffic Police in association with the

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) at Amaltas Hall, India Habitat

Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, on 13.01.15 at 11.00 AM. Among those presents

included various senior officers of Delhi Traffic Police, civic agencies like PWD, NDMC,

DDA and Delhi Cantonment Board. Dr. Muktesh Chander, Special Commissioner of

Police (Traffic) was the Chief Guest. Shri Anil Shukla, Joint Commissioner of Police

(Traffic), Shri K. K. Gandhi, Executive Director, SIAM, Dr. Amit Gupta, Head,

Department of Surgery, JPN Trauma Centre, AIIMS, Shri H.P. Singh, Superintendent

Engineer, NDMC, Shri Narinder Kumar, DGM, New India Assurance Company, Shri

Ranbir Talwar, Indian Head Injury Foundation (IHIF) and Shri Sidhartha Luthra, Senior

Advocate & former Addl. Solicitor General, Supreme Court also made presentations on

Road Safety related issues.

Addressing the gathering Sh. K.K. Gandhi, Executive Director, SIAM mentioned

that safety consists of five important factors such as engineering, road designs,

enforcement, education and emergency care and stressed that it is a continuous

exercise and also given a slogan as ‘Safety as a way of life‘. He exhorted that there is

imminent need to provide advanced security features in the vehicles like air bags for

saving against crash impact and wearing seat belts while driving. He also told that it

should be ensured that there is no children in the front seat as it crash impact can

result in fatal.

Sh. Muktesh Chander, Special CP/Traffic mentioned that various agencies are

involved in road safety and they play their own role within their realms. His main

emphasis was on design, construction and repair of the roads. He cited some examples

appearing on ground like craters/potholes during rainy season and resultant bump

appearing after its repair. He further mentioned that the beautification works of

footpaths, central verges, etc. done by the NDMC should not be against the prescribed

guidelines of IRC and UTTIPEC. Similarly, erection of foot over-bridges, electric poles,

kiosks etc. encroach upon the pedestrian way, which should be avoided.

Dr. Amit Gupta from JPN Trauma Centre (AIIMS), expressed that the timely

emergency care or trauma care can save many lives. He also reiterated that the ‘road

safety is a way of life’. He mentioned that out of 1.5 to 1.75 lakh fatalities, 50% occur

on highways, while 45% take place on city roads. He reminded the audience that the

human body is very fragile and wearing helmet, while riding a bike is must – both for

driver/rider and the pillion rider – especially female pillion riders. He commended the

role of PCR Vans in carrying the injured persons to the hospitals as quickly as possible

and thus saving precious lives.

Shri Anil Shukla, Joint CP/Traffic, through an audio/visual presentation

highlighted the prosecution done of the traffic offenders and thereby decreasing the

fatal accidents during the year 2014. On the spot prosecution has been raised by

9%. He emphasized the need of use of camera for prosecution of the traffic violators,

which could generate revenues to the tunes of crores. This amount can be utilized for

purchase of road safety equipments/measures. One of the main reasons behind fatal

accidents is the drunken driving and the last year there were special drives against

the drunken driving. Courts have also sent some of the drunken drivers to a few day

jail terms and this had very deterrent impact on the violators. He also mentioned that

regular meetings of the Local Work Task Force and introduction of various interventions

have resulted in decline in fatal accidents. In last 5 years, as many as 2005 precious

human lives were saved. He further emphasized that road safety interventions like

reflective nose protection, bollards, mastic and rambler strips, reflective tapes and high

friction surfacing should be applied on roads for better traffic regulation and reduction

in accidents.

Shri Diwakar Agarwal, ADG PWD made a presentation on ‘Confronting Deaths

on wheels –Making Road Safer- Road Geometrics and Engineering and mentioned that

lots of works have been done on road safety front and still there is long way to go. He

stressed the need for safe sight distance and visibility improvement at the junctions.

Shri H.P. Singh, Superintendent Engineer, NDMC mentioned that there is less

accidents in Lutyens Zone because of better road designs. He stressed that there

should be a uniform system for each and every junction as per need and safety of the

users. There is need to design the road for longer perspective.

Shri Narender Kumar, DG, New India Assurance, mentioned that the Road Safety

and the Insurance are very significantly linked. He commended Delhi Traffic Police for

saving about two thousand lives. He further mentioned that the delay in settlement

of payment is due to delay in making available the Detailed Accident Report (DAR)

by the police, which is made available to them by the court. He suggested that the

police personnel be given some sort of training in carrying the injured persons to the

hospitals.

Shri Ranbir Talwar, Executive Director, IHIF, mentioned that there should be

one person at the helms of affairs to whom all the stakeholders of Road Safety should

report. He spoke about the ‘Golden Hour’ and emphasized that the careful handling of

the injured in the initial moments of the accident saves many lives.

Shri Sidhartha Luthra, Senior Counsel and former Addl. Solicitor General of India,

spoke about legal aspects of the road safety. He cited some cases dealt with by him

and opined that the entire system should be brought into a unified command with

unified legislation throughout the country. At present, there are so many stakeholders

working in different spheres like district police, traffic police, highway authority, state

transport authority, hospitals etc. There must be coherence amongst them.